One of the most memorable lines from my books as a child, which I also read to my own 2 daughters, was from “Madeleine and the Gypsies”. The quote from the Madeleine book stayed in my head. In fact when my eldest daughter Codi turned 5, I commissioned a painter in art school, KSA in Nelson, to paint a painting with gypsy caravans with the quote in mind….

Ode to the Gypsy Caravan

Caravan interior - for fortune & dreaming
“…Gypsies never come to stay they only come to go away…” by Ludwig Bemelmans

The Emerald Queen
As a child I loved gypsies and wanted every opportunity to dress (up) like one. My costumes at Halloween when I was little, pretty much rotated around these four choices: Gypsy, Witch, Wonder Woman & Viking ( I sure loved that helmet with horns!).
Gypsies were so beautiful I thought – in garb and adornment and pastimes (crystal balls, tarot cards, fortune telling). I longed for the hoop earrings, the tinkling bangles, the huge rings on all fingers, the big thick hair, the scarf to hold back the mane, lace shawls and full floral skirts, embroidered blouses and the boots.

The sumptuous Caravan interior
The Gypsy Caravan, a vehicle and home in one. This has been childhood dream: to have my very own. Maybe because I spent a lot of time at the back of an orange Volkswagen Camper van as a child or maybe because I moved so much with my folks, I have felt an affinity with Gypsies since dot.

Home and heart be in one place
Not as my primary home perhaps (how would I fit all the cats and girls and me) but rather of a place of sanctuary and refuge, a space that is representative of this dreamy, mysterious, adorned gypsy child that still resides in meI have flit around with the idea of the Airstream, more practical more accessible, but the English caravans make my heart sing.

Like in Wind in the Willows
Even though my girlfriend Solange, who can make anything (build houses, bake, garden, spin, weave, knit, sew – one of the most competent women I’ve met, in the real stuff of life - she lived off the grid for the first half of her adult life!) built herself a Caravan – it has always felt so out of reach this dream of mine. Because Solange is no longer doing her carpentry, I had let it become a very quiet dream. Who could I ask to make such a precious heart felt thing or where would I find one?
And then… a few weeks ago my friend named Alda told me about this gal Michelle Wilson on Hornby Island who was making Caravans from scratch! Check out her site.

Hornby Island Caravan - Front door

Every inch of the Caravan is handmade and customzied

Hornby Island Caravans - Welcome Home
They are exquisite in their simplified beauty, almost minimalist (compared to the opulence of the Gypsies decor certainly!) earthy and so thoughtful in every nook and cranny of design and materials. It is as if you can almost feel her (Yes – it is a She who makes these beauties – I love it!) hands so precise in her endeavour and accomplishment of making her own version of this iconic travelling home, with Green principles in mind.
This has given me the pleasure of caravan reverie again as well as allowing me to feel that my very own caravan is perhaps not so far away…
Blessings to you beauties.
