Freedom CoveWayne Adams (b. ca. 1949) and Catherine King (b. ca. 1956)

About the Artist/Site

Artists Adams and King used to live in the center of Tofino, a small village on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Adams’ earlier profession was in forestry, but by age 34, he left that to become a full-time artist. He continues to carve, create candles, and produce a range of other crafts, often using woolly mammoth and fossilized ivories (all recorded) as well as feathers and other locally-scavenged rocks and crystals. King, formerly a professional dancer with an Honors degree in both Ballet and Modern, also studied acting and massage therapy, along with other healing arts. When she met Adams and they began living together in 1987 she became passionate about carving as well, so is now is an accomplished painter, writer, and wood carver who also focuses on garden projects. Their carvings and crafts are featured in shops in Tofino.

One winter, a huge storm blew down many trees near their home in Tofino; they offered the wood to the owner of the property, but he told them to keep it, so they figured this would be the time to build themselves a home.

Beginning construction in the summer of 1991, the following February they towed what had become a million-ton project into the cove, using fish-farm technology to keep it afloat. This is a completely off-the-grid sustainable series of some dozen platforms, each supporting several wooden structures that include living spaces, a dance studio, an art gallery, a lighthouse tower for guests,  and five greenhouses that produce food all year long, all connected through a system of wooden pathways. Electricity is supplied via solar panels and photovoltaic energy generators; fresh water comes from rainfall and a nearby waterfall. The couple, along with their two children, have been living and creating on this cove for almost twenty-five years.

While the buildings are rather standard vernacular shapes with eave roofs, they are painted bright colors of magenta and turquoise. An enormous spirally carved vertical sculpture, painted ceilings and painted floors with innovative designs, white rock walkways, various smaller structures and animal houses, and the variety of plants, planters, and platforms on various levels take this beyond the typical.

Proud of their work and eager to share their approach of living self-sustainably on the land (or, in this case, the water), they welcome visitors, although access is only by water. During the summer months, visitors can visit through Freedom Cove Tours or Browning Pass Charters.

~Jo Farb Hernández

 

 

Contributors

Map & Site Information


Comox-Strathcona C, British Columbia ca
Latitude/Longitude: 49.6735133 / -124.9282659

Status

Extant

Address

Comox-Strathcona C, British Columbia, Canada

Built

Begun 1991

Visiting Information

Proud of their work and eager to share their approach of living self-sustainably on the land (or, in this case, the water), they welcome visitors, although access is only by water. During the summer months, visitors can visit through Freedom Cove Tours or Browning Pass Charters.

Nearby Environments

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Comments

Hawk October 15, 2020

Very good I was looking for information on Wayne Adams .cooooollllll god bless don’t stress and all will b blesss booooom