Trolls in the Woods -a guest blog

Blog follower and friend Kristin F wrote today sending photos of these giant Trolls sculptures in the North Carolina woods.

The artist is Thomas Dambo from Denmark.

…Large Outdoor park(Dorothea Dix• Park Raleigh North Carolina ) with wooden sculptures made with repurposed wood meant to fade with the passage of time.”

Kristin F. Says “I wanted to comment…they weren’t scary at all…on the contrary, they were all quite calming…especially finding them in the woods.”

*“Dorothea Lynde Dix was a 19th century reformer and advocate for the mentally ill and imprisoned. Her tireless efforts to expose inhumane conditions and champion humane standards led to the establishment of over 30 hospitals in the US and Europe.”

Mother Strong Tail
Dux
Daddy Bird Eye
Dax

New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill


 American lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis), also known as the American painted lady
In the Orangerie
A stick house. Oh Littie Pig??
At the Gift Shop
Sculptor George Sherwood. There were 17 sculptures in motion

Spoonbridge and Cherry Sculpture Thanks to Maura

Granddaughter Maura called from Minneapolis today to share what she was looking at while she was on vacation- Spoonbridge and Cherry

by artists Claes Oldenburg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen.

Earlier this year Maura did a school report on Oldenburg for Art Class and we had looked at some of Oldenburg’s public art sculpture online and discussed locations where they could be viewed.

And here she was today, getting the chance to experience this huge sculpture in person. Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is adjacent to the Walker Art Center

“The spoon itself weighs 5,800 pounds and the cherry, another 1,200 pounds. The cherry’s stem also acts as a fountain which sprays into the bowl of the spoon and off into the pond beneath”

It was very exciting to get Maura’s Face Time call and to see it at the same time as she was looking right at it.

And then she sent two pictures. I took the third one as a screen shot as we were on the call.

Here’s an article about this iconic and “quirky Landmark”

Yes. It’s a fountain
Thanks for calling from Walker Art center to share the Spoonbridge and Cherry Sculpture

In 2016 I took a fun photo on Mt.Washington in Pittsburgh inspired by Spoonbridge and Cherry

On Top of the World post

Resilience by artist Paula Crown

Paula Crown sculptor/artist

Her journey from Wall Street to the Art World Article

Bronze sculpture Resilience
At Rockefeller Center Channel Gardens

The bronze sculpture Resilience, on view at the top of the Channel Gardens, alludes to the devastating environmental impact of single-use plastics and extends Crown’s intention to memorialize the collective suffering experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, reminding us of humankind’s resilience and innate ability to transfer energy even through the most mundane of objects.”

“A new art installation at Rockefeller Center in New York City stands as a warning about the harmful effects of disposable plastics.”

Solo Cups on the grocery store shelf

The Battle of Homestead

This bronze relief created by sculptor Brian Reneski

July 6, 1892. The Battle of Homestead (click for Rivers of Steel article)

or American Experience:
Carnegie Strike a Homestead Mill

Railroad Bridge over the Monongahela

Library Lions Don Masks in New York City

Another guest blog today.

The New York Public Library Lions don masks.

My sister has taken the role of a NYC tourist as she walks in the city and today she photographed Patience and Fortitude. They’re carved from pink Tennessee marble, designed by sculptor Edward Clark Potter.

Read about their naming and renaming here

“Patience and Fortitude, the world-renowned pair of marble lions that stand proudly before the majestic Beaux-Arts building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan, have captured the imagination and affection of New Yorkers and visitors from all over the world since the Library was dedicated on May 23, 1911.”

Yolanda by Miriam Lenk

Yolanda by Miriam Lenk 

Walked by this giant bronze sculpture in front of a bank a few times and it certainly brought body image to mind.

http://www.artconnect.com/projects/yolanda-2003-2006-bronce-320x-140x-140-cm-investititionsbank-berlin-bundesallee-210-nachodstrasse-berlin

Molecule Man on a River Spree

Molecule Man Sculpture on River Spree, Berlin-by American artist Jonathan Borofsky

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecule_Man_(sculpture)

Chainsaw Artist Transforms Trees into Art

Bridgeport, Washington is a small town on the Columbia River, near  Chief Joseph Dam.  The town’s old sycamore trees, which lined the main street, were in sad shape but instead of being cut down, chainsaw artist Jacob Lucas has transformed them into incredible sculptures.

With a CHAINSAW!

(And by the way he does custom orders if you have a tree stump in need of being transformed.)

Salmon, quail, wolves, cougars, bear, the logging industry, deer, farming, pelicans, beavers, dragonfly, bees and honeycomb, eagles and other native species are a few of the themes of the tree sculptures.

See an owl swoop down to catch  jackrabbit below.

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To get an idea of the scaleIMG_2712

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Scottish Bard’s 256th Birthday Anniversary – Just before sunset in the snow

Steve said it was Robbie Burns birthday today.  Born January 25, 1759.

We missed the fancy fundraiser for the museum last week, the Haggis and men decked out in kilts of their clan.

We missed the “not your grandfather’s ” Robert Burns birthday party in Lawrenceville and the one on the South Side with all kinds of scotch at Piper’s pub.

But we got to pay homage to the Scottish poet, just before dusk.  The end of a January gloomy Sunday.

We headed out to Schenley Park to the Robert Burns statue (by Scottish sculptor J. Massey Rhind)  and it started to snow.

Burns statue with snow front

Right next to Phipps Conservatory.

Burns statue with snow

Burns statue with plow

Burns Pedestal

Mrs. Peacock sounds like a game of clue but here is  a snippet of the article in the Mary 3, 1914 Post-Gazette.

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For a list of Robert Burns memorials around the world, click here

Quotes

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men,
Gang aft agley.
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

(To A Mouse)”
― Robert Burns, The Works of Robert Burns

                                                                                          My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here;

                                                                                          My heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the deer;

                                                                                          A-chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

                                                                                          My heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.” 

                                                                                                                                  ― Robert Burns

from Tam o’Shanter

But pleasures are like poppies spread—

You seize the flow’r, its bloom is shed;

Or like the snow falls in the river—

A moment white—then melts forever.
Line 59

“And man, whose heav’n-erected face
The smiles of love adorn
Man’s inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!”
― Robert Burns