[Sustainable Studios] Meaghan Laaper | Beauty in the Ditches with Heather McCaig
“The point of it all is to realize we’re really lucky to have what we have and to cherish it.” - Heather McCaig
Photograph by Hailley Fayle
At the beginning of CreatedHere’s journey, Marie-Hélène Morell visited the studio of glassworkers Heather and Nick McCaig. Back then, Heather was just beginning to make her way into the realm of flameworked borosilicate glass, the pair living in a log cabin and working out of the studio alongside it. Though they still live surrounded by woods, their studio a few steps away, they have since traded in their log cabin for a tiny house with a view.
Here in Markhamville, Heather makes glass replicas of flowers with a focus on New Brunswick flora. “What I’m hoping is it makes people reflect and think about conservation.” Pointing out a glass lupin, Heather explains, “They’re actually legumes. They are nitrogen-fixers, so they take nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil, so it actually is rejuvenating the soil as well. . .There’s so much beauty that naturally grows in ditches.”
Nestled in their plot of land are multiple gardens, newly planted fruit trees, their house, studio, and storage shed as well as a recent outdoor addition. Digging drainage around their garden, Heather and Nick stumbled upon clay and used it to make their very own pizza oven. “We’ve already had a couple pizza parties.”
This mindful resource use can be found throughout Heather and Nick’s property, including in their tiny house. “All the windows are repurposed off Kijiji and these kitchen cabinets, and the flooring was just left over from someone’s house when they were renovating. . .We’re trying to save money, but it also then reflects on how we’re recycling,” says Heather. When building their home, she even turned to a friend with a local mill who practices select cutting rather than clear cutting.
There are many reasons to be eco-minded. Financial savings are a great incentive for environmental protection and have fueled some of Heather and Nick’s decisions, including waste management. “A septic field is like $20,000 compared to a $1000 composting toilet,” says Heather.
Heather and Nick were thoughtful of details right down to the building’s placement. “We oriented all of our buildings so they are south-facing and there’s a big window on the south side. In the wintertime on sunny days it can be very hot in here.” The couple have big plans for their plot of land. Though in the future they intend to have solar panels, for now, good insulation and sunny days do the trick.
In the studio on the other hand, heating is part of the artistic process. “Because it is such a small space, in the wintertime when we’re done, we program the kiln to drop in temperature really slowly so it doesn’t shock the glass, and that makes it so in the morning it’s warm in there.” Though the kiln draws a lot of energy to run, keeping it in a little studio helps cut down on other sources of heat, saving money and energy.
Living in harmony with the environment is not an austere existence, as evidenced by the joyful vibrancy of the McCaigs’ property, practice, and partnership. For Heather’s part, her work exposes the beauty of conservation, and the usefulness of plants found all around us - even in the ditches.
-Meaghan Laaper
A recent graduate, Meaghan completed her Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick, including UNB’s Certificate in Publishing. After completing a work placement at CreatedHere/NBCCD, she is now the publicity & editorial intern for Goose Lane Editions.