Located at 799 Waterloo St. this feature on London's Tree Trunk Tour is entitled 'Squirreltopia!' the artwork is directly across from St George's Public School. It is in front of a regular residence, not a business or charity.
Squirreltopia is a whimsical take on what would make the ideal residence for our little, furry, tree dwelling friends. It is styled as a castle with two small lower towers, and one upper turret. Some windows are carved in relief, others are actually holes bored all the way through the piece.
Sitting off to the side, and slightly taller that the rest of the piece is an actual squirrel nesting box. It was part of the original design and construction, as can be seen on the London Tourism
Tree Trunk Tour Map (#13) The front of the tree also has a squirrel carved in relief on the upper half, which can be seen in the top photo on this page.
The signature on the piece is a little different from most of the others on the tour. It is still a
Robbin Wenzoski creation, with the connected RW as the signature, not the 'RaW art' logo that appears on other works. It is also dated 2006, so it likely pre-dates his decision to use the more frequently seen 'RaW art' version. There is also a stamp with name a phone number below the title that I had not seen on any of the other pieces. The title is often incorporated into the overall carving design on later works, on this trunk, it's a bit of an afterthought.
Being an older work, it certainly opens up the possibility of age related condition issues, and they do appear to be a problem in the area just below the signature. There are insect bore holes, and evidence of rot at the base of the tree. Anywhere sealed with the varnish looks like it is in good condition, but much of the trunk is unprotected.
As a last note, the owner of the house draped Christmas lights over this piece, and never removed them. The picture was taken in October, and it looks kind of sad this way. Good artwork deserves more respect.
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