I love this article from The New York Times on Clark Sanders, a former veterinarian and longtime builder in the Catskills of New York. He builds gorgeous strawbale homes and buildings and hand-built his personal residence, which resembles a fairy-tale cottage, stone by stone from materials found on his land. I challenge you not to be swept asunder by the photos. They make me feel concurrently exhilarated and grossly plain and unskilled. Yin and yang, sweet and sour, hard at work again.
It is simultaneously a celebration of aesthetic, human-centred creation and a recognition of the real associated costs of holding tight to that creative vision and ideals. Living deep in renovation land as I do, I feel that push/pull daily, acknowledging the trade-offs of time, money and relationships.
Tick tock.