Beyond the Tree Trunk Tour: Mythical Tree

Most of the carved tree trunks in London were works commissioned for the Tree Trunk Tour, but they are not the end of the story when it comes to these kinds of carvings. Private commissions have been added to Robbin Wenzoski's portfolio in the city.

In late 2011, Robbin finished a sculpture at 147 Wychwood Place in northwest London. He calls it 'The Mythical Tree'. It is a work which pushes the boundaries of what a carved trunk can become.

There are a lot of spectacular elements incorporated into this sculpture. The all centre around a medieval fantasy theme. The most attention grabbing part is, of course, the dragon.

As always, click the photo to enlarge it. The level of detail is amazing. The neck and head of the dragon extend well away from the trunk, and every bit of it is painstakingly detailed with teeth, horns and scales.

There is green paint on the eyes for emphasis, the only colouring I could see on the whole carving. Again, the long snout and swept back horns provide a dynamic impression.







The wings have no shortage of detail either. They appear crumpled and leathery, both deeply creased from the top and the bottom.

Of course, the dragon wings aren't the only wings on the Mythical Tree. The unicorn/Pegasus at the top of the trunk also has a very elaborate pair of wings. These add on wings were done in Robbin's workshop and brought to the tree later on. The Pegasus is poised to leap into flight off the side of the tree, again a very dynamic pose.

Sharing the top of the tree with the winged horse are a pair of monsters. I'm going to call them 'demons', but I'm not sure exactly what creature they are based on. They are both nasty looking critters, one has wings, the other spines running up his back. The main trunk, as you may have noticed, has been carved in relief to appear as castle brickwork.

Around the rear of the trunk is relief carving of a wizard. He stands with a staff, inside the arch of a castle doorway.

The artists signature is that of Robbin Wenzoski, dated 2011, and located below the wizard. This logo is small letters and caps, as are all of his more recent signatures. Having just been finished and stained a few days before I took these pictures, the carving is , of course, undamaged and unweathered.

The wild subject matter, and incredible execution, of  the carving inspired me personally, I created the following two impressions in Photoshop of what kind of world this sculpture really belongs in.

I my opinion, this is the very top end of skill and imagination in the chainsaw carving technique. Whether it is to your taste or not, the bold, confident form, and mastery of technique are undeniable. If you find yourself around Sherwood Forest P.S., it is worth the little detour to find it.

Looking for more art like this? Well try these links -


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Beyond The Tree Trunk Tour: Amanda's Angel

There are still about a dozen carvings left on London Tourism's Tree Trunk Tour. There were a total of 19 carved from 2006-2011, but some have been removed as the trunks have deteriorated. You can read all about them at my overview page. There are, however, other carvings, commissioned by private individuals, which would fit the criteria for being on the tour. This is my first look 'Beyond the Tour'. The carving is titled Amanda's Angel, and is located at 40 Carfrae Cres.






















Amanda's Angel is one of the first sculptures of its type that I, myself, noticed in the city. It is of a female angel, crouched and unclothed, its face bowed, and wings straight up from its back. The wings are probably the most attention grabbing feature of the whole carving, they are very dramatic in their placement and wonderfully detailed.



 
The castle that is perched on top of the wings is also full of wonderful little details, with several little turrets and windows. There is even a stone bridge between two of the towers. And yes, that is a real woodpecker at the bottom part of the picture, I'll get to him later.











The back of the trunk has a couple of flowers with wavy petals, carved in relief. The flowers have painted stems and petals to make them stand out. I have had a chance to speak to the artist personally, and he usually doesn't like to paint his carvings. This was obviously an exception.

The naked body of the angel itself is hunched and hiding its head, as if crying. Of all the carvings I've seen, this one part has a much stronger emotional impact than any other for me. The skin texture is polished very smooth, and the emotion of the moment really comes through. It is obviously inspired by something like this.

The title of the piece is Amanda's Angel, inscribed between the wings on the front of the sculpture. Just below that is the Raw Art 07 block letter logo, which confirms this was made by Robbin Wenzoski. There is also a white cut crystal embedded in the trunk underneath that. The metal pieces above are the remains of a bracket, which attached a light to the carving.





I was able to find out a couple more bits of information about this piece. First off, it was set to be a Tree Trunk Tour carving, and then the city backed out. The owner talks about that in this documentary, starting at about the 2:22 mark. He doesn't elaborate as to the reason that Tourism London didn't sponsor it, but either the subject matter, or the cost may have made them change their minds. The second thing we learn from the video, is that the owners name is Jim Angell. It is certainly not unusual for a client to include a pun or reference to his or her own name in a commissioned work.






As with all the tree trunks I've catalogued, it isn't without its condition issues. The dark corners at the top of the castle have some fungus growing in them, and the finish on the angel itself is peeling in places. Like any wood left outdoors, a little time and care still needs to be invested every year to make sure it stays in good shape.







Now, about that woodpecker I mentioned above. I was quite lucky, and very shocked to see this little guy perched on the side of one of the wingtips. He was madly trying to tunnel into the trunk. I was no more that twenty feet away, and he was much more interested in the trunk than in me. It was a fun moment for me on my travels to all of the carved trunks, but I hope he gives up and finds a different spot to try and bore into.

Looking for more art like this? Well try these links -


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Check out all the entries on my blog using the London's All Inclusive Art Map  
Curious about this artist? Try Robbin's Links Page

Shining Brightly

 On the south side of Dundas St, half a block East of Colborne is Shining Brightly, a trunk carving made in partnership with St. Leonard's Community Services, it stands on the north side of the building housing their headquarters. The title of the sculpture reads prominently down the front.

At the rear, we find the three brush strokes of the St Leonard's logo inside the protection of 2 elongated hands. The colours on the logo are still very bright, and appear to represent the three types of services offered by St. Leonard's. It appears that the dedication year is carved below.







Down near the bottom of the sculpture, there is an open hand perhaps to symbolize the willingness to accept help. St. Leonard's deals with people in the criminal justice system, and those at risk for being involved with it.

At the very top of the trunk is a large hand holding a sphere with an Ankh etched into it. Both the sphere an the Ankh are symbols of life and the unbroken nature of the universe.

At the top corner is a book, or perhaps a window, opened to reveal an eight pointed star. If anyone knows the specific symbolism, please let me know. From pictures on the Tourism London website, there was an eye standing in front  of the book, but at some time it either broke off or fell off.










Overall, the carving has held up well. The lacquer that was used has prevented the grain from fading and the body of the piece from breaking down. The limitations of the medium show in the hand, and on the book as well, as grain cracking and missing elements are par for the course when it comes to carving something as unyielding as a tree trunk in a fixed location.

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Sad Times on the (Shorter) Tree Trunk Tour

It is with a bit of sorrow that I write this post. After seeing this article in the London Free Press, I was able to confirm that several of the carvings have been designated for removal, as they have been deemed unsafe. The following carvings are either already gone, or will be removed soon, according to Tourism London.

On the subject of the expected life of a carving, Dave Broostad of Hamroad.com, who have commissioned new trees, had his opinion printed in the paper.

Shining Brightly 

Rising Up On Eagle Wings

Convergence @ 23 Peter St.

Woodfield 1840-2007  (already removed)               

Come Together and Grow

Squirreltopia @ 799 Waterloo St.

There are no plans to re-install these carvings, in contradiction to the LFP article linked above.

I will be updating my Tree Trunk Tour Map, and the Overview Page shortly to reflect this unfortunate loss to the city's landscape.

Eldon House

There are currently 16 trees on the London Tree Trunk Tour, but now only 15 stops. If you are visiting London from outside of the city, there is a good chance that one of your first stops after leaving Highway 401 will be the London Tourism Visitors Centre.

'Eldon House', a carving representing one of London's other tourist attractions, is located beside the visitor's centre, at 696 Wellington Road South. This carving has recently been joined by Mother Nature, most likely due to issues with that trunk's structural stability in its old Queens Av. location. The Visitor's Centre is about a ten minute drive from downtown, so its not a walking tour, by any means. Having more that one sculpture in the same place does give people more of an opportunity to stop and take a look at what they are all about.

'Eldon House' is somewhat similar to 'Charles S. Hyman' in its construction. There are a few elements which were carved into the trunk itself, and many other parts of the design are plaques made in a workshop and attached to the tree once it was finished in this location.

There is, unlike any of the other stops on the tour, a commemorative plaque in front of the trunk, which gives a little bit of info about the carving, and also promotes Eldon House itself.

The trunk has large, rough, rounded flowers at the top, which look like daisies, or perhaps peonies, London's official flower. They face both the front and back of the piece.










The elements that relate to Eldon house itself are divided into 8 separate areas on the trunk. Two designs are placed every 90 degree turn around the tree, giving the carving 4 different 'faces' to look at.





The front face has an owl's face recessed into the top and carved in relief. It was carved from the solid piece of trunk. The bottom is a front view of Eldon house with its wide veranda. 

Travelling around the trunk counter-clockwise, the next face is two portraits, Amelia Ryerse Harris above, and John Harris below. These images appear to have been created from scans of official portraits inside the house.

The rear face of the carving has a compass on the top. John Harris was a surveyor in the British Navy, and one of the initial surveyors when Upper Canada was being mapped. This is likely what the compass represents. Below, there is a view of one of the ladies of Eldon House in the dining room.  The house was well known at the time for its hospitality. That reputation was not harmed by the fact that the Harris family had seven daughters to court.

The fourth face's plaques picture an elephant's foot umbrella stand, and a military soldier in a doorway. The umbrella stand is a well known trophy, collected by John's grandson George Henry Ronalds Harris during his time in Africa. The soldier is, if you look closely, somewhat transparent, which makes me think he represents the ghost of Eldon House. This story seems to have a higher level of interest than when I visited Eldon House on school field trips as a child.

 I would like to make a couple of notes about how the caving was made. The main body of the tree is a chainsaw carved trunk, with trees and leaves. Almost all of the detail work is slabs of wood carved with a computer aided design technique, and then attached after the trunk was placed in its location. For the chainsaw carving purist, this might not be what was expected in a sculpture. I'm also not sure how well the pieces will age and colour relative to the different wood on the trunk itself.

The signature is a subtle one again. The initials of Neil Cox, and Mary-Ann Jack-Bleach, the collaborating artists, are carved into
the trunk, above a date of 2010.





Although this is not a movie, I do have bonus footage! Check out the arrival and completion of this tree carving, courtesy of Tourism London.

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Pearson Panther

The Pearson Panther is located in the front yard of Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts. This carving is a stop on the original leg of Tourism London's Tree Trunk Tour. It is similar to The Learning Tree, and the CCH Crusader, as they are all located on school properties. While the other two carvings are at a secondary school, Pearson is an elementary school.

The class of 2008 at Pearson has dedicated this carving from themselves to the school. It has a large panther carved out of the back of the trunk, and it is leaning with its paws above a series of crests.

There are eight crests in total. Four of them symbolise the curriculum at Lester Pearson. It is a dedicated arts school, so there are four core artistic components. A palette and brush represent visual arts. A treble clef and note are for music. Theatre masks for theatrical performance, and ballet slippers for dance.




















The other four crests represent plays that the graduating class performed in each during their time at the school.
















They include Crown and Dagger, Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', and White Rabbit. Pictured are the shipwreck in 'The Tempest', and presumably the title character in 'White Rabbit'.

The panther itself is fully detailed throughout, including a coat of gloss black paint, and each individual white tooth shaped in his mouth. He could probably use a little tooth brushing, however.





I haven't made note of it in every instance, but not every trunk carved on the tour is the result of a conveniently placed dying or dead tree. The CCH Crusader is the example that comes to mind. When the tree isn't in the right place, there still might be a spot for the tree. A poured concrete pad for stability, and a metal post slid up into the core of the trunk, and you too, can have a permanent carving where there was no tree.




I do usually note any the signature and any damage to the tree at this point. The signature is low on the back of the trunk, and is the all capital RAW ART from Robbin Wenzoski. The date is 2008. In the nearly 4 years since completion, the surface details have had a lot of damage done to them, there are light and dark discolourations, and the stain has faded in many places. Happily, due to it being on a concrete pad, the main body of the tree should be free of rot. Its another example of a sculpture in need of a little TLC.

Overall, an interesting concept. I have found out, through my enquiries, that the design was a collaboration between the graduating and the artists, and as many ideas from the children were incorporated as was possible. Hundreds of people walk by this sculpture every day of the school year. They are the actual people that this carving represents, and I would hope that they would find the time and energy to return it to its original condition. The Panther is still an impressive sight.

Looking for more art like this? Well try these links -



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Curious about this artist? Try Robbin's Links Page

Full Circle Group Benefits "Moosehead"

The Full Circle Group Benefits' sponsored carving 'Moosehead' is located at 834 Van St. just a half a block east of Rectory in London. The carving is a little different than most of the others on London's Tree Trunk Tour. It isn't on a main street, or associated with a large institution. It was completed as a part of the partnership that created the other fifteen works on the tour.

It is a sculpture which is very straightforward in its execution, a lifelike, life sized carving of a moose's head, perched on the cleanly shaped and stained tree trunk bottom.









I was able to get in touch with the owner, Dave Broostad, and learned a lot about the carving. He is the owner of the property, and had a maple tree that he was going to have to cut down. In the fall of 2010, he researched the other trunks in London, and eventually was led to Robbin Wenzoski, who would end of carving this piece.

The Moose was chosen, according to Mr. Broostad, because he had just returned from a hunting trip, and it sprang to mind when Robbin asked him what he wanted on the tree. Due to the width of the antlers, it was necessary to carve the head out of a separate piece of wood, in this case, Black Walnut.







The trunk cuts quite and imposing profile on the street. And the blending is very smooth between the existing trunk and the add-on head. Being able to work on the head in the comfort of his workshop allows for much more precision in the final product.

Mr. Broostad also tells me that it has become a local landmark, neighbours referring to how many houses they are from 'the Moose' when giving directions.

The Moose is simple, but certainly stoic in his expression, and beautifully executed. The sculpture is in perfect condition, but it lacks Mr. Wenzoski's familiar signature.







This moose was also responsible for planting the seed of an idea. The idea of art being used to promote and identify a community has grown into what will become the Hamilton Road Tree Trunk tour. I will have more info on the growth of that project on this website in the near future.

Pride in a community can come from many different areas, good schools, well maintained streets and parks, and viable businesses among them. I would argue that having something unique and beautiful, available to everyone, is on that list too. Part of what I'm trying to do with this project is make sure that the attention stays with positive ideas like that, and these pieces in the community are not lost or forgotten.


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The Learning Tree

On the north side of the Catholic Central S.S. property is 'The Learning Tree'. This carving is one stop on the London Tourism sponsored Tree Trunk Tour. It is a visually dense creation, converting an old tree trunk into a nostalgic trip back to all of the most familiar elements of primary and secondary school.

The sculpture is a very short walk from three other Tree Trunk Tour stops. One block to the south an you can see 'CCH Crusader' and 'Shining Brightly'. One block east is 'Rising Up On Eagle's Wing's'. If you want one stop to see what kinds of things the tour has to offer, I would recommend this as a place to start.

Clicking on any of the pictures will display the full sized version.




Shall we begin our look at the interesting elements on this trunk? Remember, this is all done with power carving tools, mostly chainsaws. From the bottom, we have the alphabet and some crayons. There is a lot of painted on "spot colour", as with the crayons, and it does set the piece apart from some other carvings on the tour.










Another side of the trunk, reminding us of the values taught early in the school system. Love is also represented by the painted heart. Robbin Wenzoski created this work, and on his original website (which now has some technical issues with the pictures), he talked about deciding what elements of learning to include. He didn't leave out much.





The picture on the left shows the south side. I find it interesting that the natural burl in the tree has been left intact. This is also the spot for the official Tree Trunk Tour plug, with the sponsorship logo. The pic on the right shows the north side, where the title is displayed in the same font as the other lettering on the carving. Lots of school related bits are carved in around the two larger elements.

Moving up near the top of the tree trunk, we get a few add-on pieces. I think these really add to the dimension of the sculpture here, though I would suppose a purist may not appreciate wood not from the original tree. I am a practical person. This violin looks great.














And this microscope is my favorite bit. Imagine, going out to the workshop, firing up your machinery and sculpting out a microscope. Just thinking of that on a to do list makes me smile. 'Carve microscope out of wood block.'

The topmost add-on is a mortar board, and a diploma. Some really delicate looking work here to get the curl of the paper diploma.









The other message, delivered in the form of a rebus, is the artist asking the viewer to "Listen to your heart." Not a lesson on any school curriculum, but something that we might want to learn as early as possible in life.

The artist's signature is the block letter RAW ART logo, from Robbin Wenzoski, and the date (not pictured) is 2007. The overall condition of the carving is quite good, without any excessive cracking. The original stain has peeled off in a lot of places, and it may need maintenance in the near future.




There is a wise old owl atop 'The Learning Tree'. I didn't foresee how much looming he would be doing in this shot, but I present it as it was taken.

Looking for more art like this? Well try these links -



Return to the Tree Trunk Tour Overview Page

Check out all the entries using the London Art Map  
Curious about this artist? Try Robbin's Links Page