A traditional feature of strawbale houses is the truth window – an opening through which one can see the straw inside the walls. Like every strawbale house, truth windows are unique and creative, providing a little peek into the golden stems. Truth windows often take on the role of an altar, bringing gratitude for the sources of our materials and reminding us of the reasons for the choices we have made. We have seen truth windows as elaborate wood frames, recycled metal grates, little doors that open to reveal the straw, and anything in between. We went through a few different designs before we finally settled on the simple use of the clay plaster as a sculpting medium in which to frame and hold in place the piece of glass against the bales. I decided to build out the bottom of the frame to create a small ledge in which to place little treasures, much like the objects that adorn an altar.
First we trimmed out a recessed area of the bales by about 4 inches and set the glass in place. I used a pair of chopsticks to help hold up the plaster that would shape the top curves of the frame, then applied a first coat of plaster. With the second coat of plaster, I built up the shape that I wanted in the curves, and added the little reveals above and below the frame. The beautiful thing about such a sculptural style of building is that you can really make it up as you go, erasing and starting over, correcting and being surprised by what happens. I haven’t done much sculptural work in my past, so getting the picture of what was in my head on to the wall was an interesting challenge of dexterity and a good lesson in flexibility. What the truth window ultimately ended up being was a combination of a vague idea and surprise.
For the finish plaster, I used the coloured plaster that Tracy and I had made up for our colour samples for the front room. We ended up with a beautiful orange that was too dark for the whole room, but would make the truth window stand out against a lighter shade of the same colour. We haven’t done the rest of the room yet, but we are working on getting all the other prep details done so we can do the final plaster sometime in July. So for right now, our finished truth window sits lovely and peaceful amongst the strew of construction and chaos. We look forwards to sitting just below it, eating our meals and rotating our treasures in gratitude for the soil, the sun, the rain, the seeds and the hands that cared for what has become the walls of our home. 
Inspirational Village 