Here is some inventive and unique garden art that I ran across today.
Pine Man
Pine Man close-up
Smoke Jumper
Smoke Jumper close-up
New York Times: The monumental works in “Joseph Wheelwright: Tree Figures,” from 16 ½ to 27 feet tall, began life upside down as live trees rooted in the soil on the artist’s 40-acre property in East Corinth, Vt.
“I start by looking for trees with bifurcated trunks,” said Mr. Wheelwright, a sculptor who lives in Boston with his wife, Susan MacGregor Wheelwright.
“If the hips and the swing of the legs look good, I poke down into the roots to see what the tree is going to give me for shoulders. Sometimes you can follow the root structure all the way out to the fingers.”
Having identified a promising specimen, Mr. Wheelwright, 63, fells the top portion of the tree, which will not be part of the figure, and then, using customized equipment, uproots and inverts the remainder.
“It’s a big deal,” he said. “You have to use a crane to gently remove it, or sometimes I build a ramp so when the tree falls it pulls the roots up and out.”
Completing the sculpture involves adapting and adding to the existing growth to form the head and facial features and position the arms and hands.
“I use every part of the tree that is appealing.
More: (Caution: one of the images is sexual in nature):
http://www.joewheelwright.com/...
