Old Barn Gallery & Decor 

paintings, sculpture, antiques, folk art, garden art, fabric art, found art, vintage quilts and linens - shabby chic treasures.  --  We have one of the largest collections of vintage quilts and hooked rugs in the Maritimes. 

 

350 acre Beaver Dam Farm, Pomquet village, Antigonish County, Nova Scotia on

contact info:   home & office - 902-386-2304 - - 352-459-8537 - cell

beaverdf@ns.sympatico.ca

 

OPENING  for our second season -  June 1st to end of October: 

Thursday - Sunday 10am to 5 pm

Other days by chance or appointment. 

We're almost always on the farm so if you stop by and don't see us, BANG the TRIANGLE, or call us on our cell phones -

Carol: 352-459-8537

Ed:  902-968-9712

  Beaver Dam Farm, Melanson Rd. Pomquet just east of Antigonish, N.S.  

EASY DIRECTIONS:  Stay on the 104 (Trans Canada Highway) going EAST towards Cape Breton. ---  Pomquet is about 15 km. past Antigonish ---  We're in the village of Pomquet.  Take the 2nd Pomquet exit (not Taylor's Rd.  It's longer) -  The 2nd exit to Pomquet is after the Taylor's Rd. exit and it's at the top of a little hill.  The signs say ST. ANDREWS to the right, and POMQUET to the left.  You go left.  This is an easy exit to see as it is at top of little hill, and there are yellow stripes on road indicating left turn.  Also, street lamps over the highway.  ---  GO LEFT off the highway 1 kilometer to MELANSON ROAD (2st road on left)  =--  You'll see Gallery signs and an OPEN FLAG at end of our road.  ---   Turn left on Melanson and stay on this dirt road until you come to the farm with BIG RED BARN.  Park where indicated beside the barn, then come up behind the barn to the Old Barn Gallery. 

2011 - Our first season

Our first season was everything we hoped for . . . And for that we thank the people of Antigonish County who came and bought and praised.  We're extremely grateful for their patronage, their enthusiasm and their sincere encouragement. --  Here are some comments from our first season visitors . . .

 

"A stunningly beautiful gallery." . . . "Eclectic collection"   . . . . "This setting is truly  awe-inspiring,  like a cathedral" . . . "What a wonderful and diverse collection you are offering." . . . "Carol, you have such a sense of color and arrangement." . . . . .  "The gardens are magnificent" . . . "The farm is so beautifully kept." . . . . "Arthur and Ed's paintings are wonderful" . . . "We love it that the structure in this gorgeous old barn has been left as its always been." 

 

Arthur, Ed & I (Carol) are excited and pleased that the conversion of this 1845 barn into an art gallery, antique and gift shop has gone exactly as envisioned.  -  Paintings are hung on the massive old beams, and everybody who has seen it, is very enthusiastic. 

As we get a bit more time, we'll put our stock on this webpage, for the benefit of those who will be coming to Nova Scotia, and for on-line shoppers.  If you see something you'd love to have in your own home, let us know and we'll ship it to you.  We take VISA.   . . . If you wish to order something you see on the site, you must do that during the summer months, because come the end of October, we pack everything up and store it for the winter.  There's no way we could run the gallery in a drafty old Nova Scotia barn. 

 

Today is Dec. 5th, 2011 -  see lots of gallery photos!! Or scoll down to view a slideshow and "Like" our page on facebook!!

Old Barn Gallery sign designed and painted by artist, Ed Mattie 

   

This area of the old Barn Gallery used to be a run-in shed for our weanlings and yearlings.   --  As you can see by photo on right, there's still horse hay in the old barn loft.  --  The old child's chair is for sale, and we make the decorative pillows right here at the farm using vintage fabric and very old handcut work. 

  

The Old Barn Gallery's courtyard garden is absolutely delightful and a favorite with visitors.  The garden's success is totally due to the Fjord Horse manure it's planted in.  We put our first plant in the ground mid may and the garden was gorgeous by opening day on July 8th. 

   

The painting is by local artist, Angela Benoit, and the carving by local artist, Frank Fraser who has a real feeling for working animals. 

 

 

   

These roses are my favorite, I think, out of the 500 + bushes I've planted at Beaver Dam Farm.  They're a wonderful combination of icecream pink and pure white -  The folk art fish with feet is entitled "Evolution".  He's the work of a fabulous Nova Scotian folk artist named Josef.  We love and collect his work.  --  I particularly like this piece for its humour and color  + a bit of glitter. 

 

   

The picture at left shows one of Louis LeBlanc's wood turnings.  This one is a treasure - a really rare example of wood grain.  It's one of Louis's hallmark pieces and is extremely high quality.  --  The photo at right shows part of German artist's Guenter Burr's paintings.  It's a charming piece with ducklings on a pond.   

   

The quilt artist is Debra Howard from the southern end of Nova Scotia.  her work has been acclaimed by judges and experts all over the Maritimes.  Many of the Old Barn Gallery's visitors this summer were quilters and all of them recognized the special quality and merit in Debra's work.  --  The photo at right is the beautiful daughter of gallery visitors this summer.  She had a good time with the friendly barn cats. 

 

 

   

Here's Guenter Burr's paintingin full view.  It's so beautiful and would make a wonderful addition to a bedroom for adults or children.  --  on the right we're showing some fabulous pottery imported from Alsace, France.  It's called Soufflenheim pottery and it's excellent to use in the kitchen.  it holds the heat and is made for the oven.  --  I've used it for 40 years.   

 

 

   

On left, work turnings by Nova Scotia artist, Louis LeBlanc.  --  --  On the right, another of Louis's bowls on a wonderful antique Nova Scotia chair. 

 

 

    

on the left -  This is one of my favorite pieces by local sculptor, Joe Arsenault.  It's called "Mother and Child" and is made out of driftwood from our beaches and is set on a piece of pink marble from Marble Mountain in Cape Breton.  --  Joe's ability to capture emotion -- in this case 'motherly love' in driftwood is true artistry.  --  Joe also does stone garden sculptures which Arthur and I have collected for years, and I want to own at least one of his driftwood pieces.  --  On the right is a true 'shabby chic' treasure with a Nova Scotian hooked rug.   

 

 

    

On the left, our resident artist, Ed Mattie, with a group of teenage students who created very impressive oil paintings from scratch in 4 hours of class.  --  On the right is another painting by German/Nova Scotian artist, Guenter Burr.  It's called Christmas Rose and is very fine and beautiful. 

 

 

   

On the left is an Ed Mattie painting of our dear old stallion, GJEST who was born in Norway, imported to Holland, and then imported to the States by Carol and Arthur, and finally brought to Canada in 1991.  --  The photo on the right is a GJEST son.  Ed has a marvelous painting of this horse in this pose.