About Blue Horse
Like many city people, Anna Gustafson and Paul Burke nursed a longstanding dream to devote themselves full-time to art and move their family to a tranquil setting. At the time they were managing demanding careers in fashion design and construction, while living in an old Victorian house in the heart of Vancouver.
Paul was the first to leap. Since 1988 he’d been making wooden animal sculptures and the success of a small show in 1990 motivated him to expand his menagerie on a full-time basis. With help and inspiration from Anna, he also produced a collection of rubber stamps for stamp art. The couple took one step closer to their dream when Anna decided to leave the clothing industry. This not only liberated much of her time, it also unleashed pent-up creative energy that immediately demanded she become a potter. Since Paul had already taken over the basement for his carving and she lacked a studio of her own, Anna threw her first pots in the living room!
Soon both artists achieved a level of success that meant they could devote their working hours exclusively to creativity. They began seriously to envision the ideal place to live: a rural environment with enough land to build two spacious studios. During the next five years they searched all over B.C. for a new home.
In the winter of 1996 they found it on Salt Spring Island, a small community with close connections to Vancouver and Victoria. Initially looking for a barn and a field, they fell in love with 8 acres of magnificent arbutus trees, cedars, and firs.
Soon both artists achieved a level of success that meant they could devote their working hours exclusively to creativity. They began seriously to envision the ideal place to live: a rural environment with enough land to build two spacious studios. During the next five years they searched all over B.C. for a new home.
In the winter of 1996 they found it on Salt Spring Island, a small community with close connections to Vancouver and Victoria. Initially looking for a barn and a field, they fell in love with 8 acres of magnificent arbutus trees, cedars, and firs.
With their two kids, two dogs and two cats, they moved from Vancouver and began to thin the woods, clearing a little space for the house they would build. Their plan was to live in tents for the summer, and move into a partially completed home before the chilly, wet winter arrived.
Anyone who has ever built anything knows that the process takes about five times as long as you intend it to. The stages of envisioning, designing and building their house and studios took a full two years. During this time — yes, two years — the whole family continued to camp. Their home was a makeshift plastic house and four canvas wall tents on platforms. Record rain and snowfall didn’t deter their enthusiasm as the house took shape.
Eventually they settled into a proper house, with doors and windows, indoor plumbing, and two studios on the main floor. But Paul and Anna felt the urge to keep building. A new vision propelled them forward: a gallery on their own property to showcase their work. Blue Horse Folk Art Gallery started as a traditional small shingled building, but two years later the volume of visitors persuaded them to add two more rooms and several skylights. The resulting space was breathtaking in a way that no-one could have imagined.
Anyone who has ever built anything knows that the process takes about five times as long as you intend it to. The stages of envisioning, designing and building their house and studios took a full two years. During this time — yes, two years — the whole family continued to camp. Their home was a makeshift plastic house and four canvas wall tents on platforms. Record rain and snowfall didn’t deter their enthusiasm as the house took shape.
Eventually they settled into a proper house, with doors and windows, indoor plumbing, and two studios on the main floor. But Paul and Anna felt the urge to keep building. A new vision propelled them forward: a gallery on their own property to showcase their work. Blue Horse Folk Art Gallery started as a traditional small shingled building, but two years later the volume of visitors persuaded them to add two more rooms and several skylights. The resulting space was breathtaking in a way that no-one could have imagined.