The film explores the life and work of Wharton Esherick (1887-1970) a painter and furniture maker who came of age during the Industrial Revolution. At a time when America was enamoured with consumerism and mass industry, Wharton moved to a rural farm outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began making sculptural wood furniture one piece at a time.
Nine artisans on secluded Gabriola Island reveal the differences between mass manufactured and authentic locally handmade through intimate portraits of their work and lifestyle.
What do barn settings, styles, methods and materials tell us about the people who built them, the life they lived, and the role these vanishing country cathedrals played in the settling and building of a growing nation? Barns were constructed by farmer-craftsmen, professional builders who travele...
