Bahama Times

Thursday, Apr 18, 2024

Inspired by the Blunk House, a Sculptor Transforms a Rustic California Cabin Into an Evolving Work of Art

Inspired by the Blunk House, a Sculptor Transforms a Rustic California Cabin Into an Evolving Work of Art

The handmade cabin owned by Ido Yoshimoto (J.B. Blunk's godson) is featured in the book 'How to Get Away,' alongside retreats that dot remote forests around the world.

If you’ve spent time in and around Inverness, a misty, rustic Marin County enclave most famous for its community of artists, proximity to the Point Reyes Light House, and abundance of oyster farms, you may have heard of J.B. Blunk. Blunk, a Kansas-born sculptor who escaped to the wilds of Northern California to live off the grid, created his famous, organic sculptures out of wood, clay, and stone. His massive sculpture and master work “The Planet” (1969) was carved from the stump of an ancient redwood and is a must-see at the Oakland Museum of Art. His house, known simply as the Blunk House, has been preserved as a museum.

And it’s become a kind of prototype, like George Nakashima’s house in Pennsylvania, or Georgia O’Keeffe’s house in New Mexico, for people who want to live simply and deliberately in nature, surrounded by handmade, carefully curated objects. Blunk’s godson, fellow sculptor Ido Yoshimoto, is one of them. In the book How to Get Away: Cabins, Cottages, Hideouts and the Design of the Retreat by Laura May Todd (Lannoo Publishers), Yoshimoto’s handmade cabin is featured alongside retreats that dot remote forests around the world, from Marrakech to the Stockholm archipelago.

One glance at Yoshimoto’s simple cabin, though, and it’s clear that this house could only exist in California.

Yoshimoto took over a simple cabin at the end of a dirt road and slowly transformed it into a handmade retreat.

Yoshimoto was raised nearby in Marin County and followed in the footsteps of Blunk and his own father, Rick Yoshimoto, a fellow sculptor. He poured his heart and soul into the woodland retreat at the end of a dirt road, about 2.5 hours north of San Francisco but worlds away.

Yoshimoto’s art collection, including ceramics made by his father, Rick, and godfather, J.B. Blunk, is on display throughout the tiny house.

“When I took over, the building was uninhabited for many years and the forest had encroached onto the property,” Yoshimoto says in the book about the existing structure, which was built in the 1980s. “There have been multiple residents and each has added on or modified the design.”

He added to the original structure, from shelves and lights to tables and stools throughout the humble cabin and workshop.

It doesn’t get more rustic than this tiny kitchen, which makes space for essentials in a small corner of the structure.


“My goal was to create something comfortable and liveable while applying my aesthetic and using the materials available, most of which were reused and reclaimed scraps from my art studio,” says Yoshimoto, whose artwork, which is carved from blocks of wood, has been shown in galleries around the world.


“Every plate, cup, and bowl has been made by an artist that I know or collected from travels,” he says. That includes ceramic pieces made by his father and Blunk, and paintings by friend Jessica Niello and Californian artist Raymond Yelland. “I really enjoy having a personal collection. To let things curate themselves by way of connection.”

The sleeping area is separated from the main living space by a curtain.

The home, like Blunk’s, is an ever-changing art exhibit that will continue to evolve and age with Yoshimoto. And it embodies that rustic, time-worn, beautifully weathered aesthetic that Inverness is famous for.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bahama Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×