Last summer I got back from the Yukon and Sharon and I were having our more-or-less weekly work meeting. We had a conversation that went something like this:

-“I want to weave BIG. I’m going to ask Alastair if he’ll teach me. I want to weave a bike trailer.”
– “Do you want to do that by yourself? … or… would it be something you’d like to work on together?”
– “Oh! I hadn’t thought of that. I just want to do it. I don’t really mind how it happens.”
– “Because I had been thinking something similar; I want EartHand to have a woven bike trailer that we can use as a pop-up studio…. ”

The next few things happened like magic: we found out that a woven bike trailer could qualify for a BC Arts Council production grant; Sharon happened to meet Geoff Hibbard, who  works as the mechanic, designer and bike cart builder for Vancouver’s premier electric tricycle company,  Shift Delivery , and  when we got in touch to float the idea by Alastair Heseltine, we found out he was going to be in town and could meet with us in person.

Our initial meeting over beers around Sharon’s kitchen table resulted in a very exciting sheet of brown paper with a lot of notes on it. 

And shortly afterwards, we finished the grant application for a BC Arts Council Production Grant in Sharon’s name.

We’re still waiting to hear about whether that grant application was successful, but thanks to funding from the Vancouver Park Board: Arts Culture and Environment, we’ve been able to move ahead with the design and fabrication of the chassis. We’ll keep you posted!