How It All Started

Creation Bound is — no WAS — the vision of me, Jason Blakeney (aka… “Ace”).

As a child I was always outdoors in the fields and forests. I had a strong desire to learn how the Native Americans and frontier mountain men had lived off the land. I studied everything I could find on wilderness living, primitive skills, and nature awareness.

When I was 10 years old my parents bought our first horse. A Morgan mare named “Starfire”. I was in love and began to learn everything I could about horses and horsemanship. With my love of the outdoors, and now my love of horses, it wasn’t long before

a life long passion grew inside me for traveling remote backcountry on horseback. And I would spend the beginning of my adult life pursuing jobs and activities that would provide me the opportunity to do just that. Traveling remote places on horseback. Living like I was one of those planes nomads or western mountain men.

I had come to a point in my skills as an outdoorsman that I felt more at home in wild places than in civilization. The forest was as familiar and comfortable to me as your living room. I began to have a desire to share with others the things I was learning and experiencing. To bring others out into nature and help them learn how to be as at home there as I had. That was the beginning of my vision for Creation Bound.

Eventually I attended Garrett College and pursued studies in their Adventure Sports program. I began working more with young people in the outdoors. Helping them overcome struggles in their lives and sharing my love of the outdoors and horses. I found myself more and more often desiring a place of my own where I could set up programs for folks to come out and learn about the outdoors, nature, horses and especially the one who created it all for us.

Stephanie and I where married in 2004, in New England, and soon went back out west. We spent a few years working for cattle and sheep ranches, guest operations, and even spent a winter on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. Always I was learning and exploring how to live in the outdoors. Always I had the idea of starting a place to teach and share with others.

In 2007, when our first child was born, we moved back to New England. We began to scour the New England countryside, looking for a piece of land we could buy where we could establish a homestead and I could start the program I always envisioned.

In 2010 we purchased land in Brownfield, Maine. We set up camp and began the process of turning our small chunk of New England forest into a homestead. It was slow going. In order for us to make ends meet I took a job working on the road. This left very little time to work on our homestead, build our house, and pursue my vision of Creation Bound.

We first started living on the land in a tepee. I loved the tepee, but we needed something more substantial for our young family through the cold Maine winters. So we broke ground and poured a small ICF (insulated concrete forms) foundation, capped it off and moved in.

Still working on the road much of the time. I found myself bogged down with all the work that a new off grid homestead can throw at you. Those first several years were pure survival. We just worked and worked and worked, trying to get the homestead established and stay above water financially. It left me very little time to invest in my vision of Creation Bound.

Eventually 3 more children came along and our little capped off foundation was feeling really cramped! At this time the company I worked for on the road was shutting down. I would soon find myself unemployed. Eventually it worked out that Stephanie was offered a good position of employment in town, and this had the potential to leave me free to begin working full time on our home, and the homestead.

At the same time, through a very random series of events, we were introduced to a production company that had an interest in our off grid build. I would spend the next year working on building our log and cord wood masonry home by hand and largely from materials harvested off our own land. The entire build would be filmed by the production company and eventually premiered on the DIY Networks “building off the grid” series on Jan 8th 2019.

Now my family had a complete home. The homestead was coming along nicely. Stephanie was doing well at work and supporting us financially. I had learned a lot about cameras, video, and editing through working with the production company. It was time to start seriously focusing in on my vision for Creation Bound.

I had a new idea. Realizing that through video, the internet, and social media Creation Bound could have a much broader reach and audience then I once imagined. With some creative thinking I could use these mediums with my new experience in video, to reach more people, build a larger community, and provide quality information and inspiration to more folks.

I also realized that my vision had changed and it was no longer “MY” vision! At least.. I didn’t want it to be mine alone. My family was growing, maturing, and we were becoming a real team. I wanted my vision to be our vision. No longer would it be ME sharing MY experience and inspiration, but OUR family sharing OUR experience, inspiration, sense of adventure, and love of our Creator with all of you.

This is when we launched the Creation Bound YouTube channel and this website. Now we are sharing our homestead, knowledge, and inspiration with so many more people than I could have ever imagined so many years ago.

Explore this website. Read our blog. Check out our videos on YouTube and this website. Join our off grid newsletter. Come attend one of our workshops or classes.

Be inspired to Get Out There!

Shalom! (Peace!)

The Blakeney Family