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Sunday, May 15, 2016

Fantasy Forest

The Leila Arboretum in Battle Creek, Michigan, isn't far from where Doug's brother, Dennis, lives. The three of us drove through it about a month ago. Near the entrance to the Arboretum grounds is a Fantasy Forest, created in 2015, by artists from around the United States, from the remains of a grove of Ash trees killed by an infestation of the Emerald Ash Borer.











I love that the Leila Arboretum found a way to create a magical place from a grove of dead trees. 

To see images of the bare tree trunks before the sculpting began, click here

And, to see more and better photos of the finished products, click here



12 comments:

  1. Interesting mode to apply to the trees. I have a tree carver just a few miles away and have enjoyed watching him in action.I like to eat his organic apples also,he said with the carving not to quit your day job.

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  2. WOW! What cool creations they have made from thses trees.

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  3. Love that. I am in the Battle Creek area once in a while. May have to check this out!

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  4. It's a shame the trees were killed, but I love what they've done here.

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  5. WOW! That's great to see how they turned these dead trees into works of art.

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  6. It's an interesting project full of imagination, Linda. I especially like the wizard and the way he literally grows from the tree.

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  7. The emerald ash borer is a serious and worrisome problem all over. But what a beautiful creation these artist made from the dead trees. I especially love the one that looks like a tree chief of some sort.. arms outstretched. wonderful work. Yours is the second blog post today that I visited which features tree carving.

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  8. Steve - It's amazing how many tree carving artists there are in the world. Some of them do some remarkable work. I like that about not quitting your day job. :)

    Margaret - I agree about the "wow" factor.

    Marcie - I hope you will visit the Leila Arboretum when you're in Battle Creek. It's a beautiful place. The Fantasy Forest is just a small part of it.

    George - I agree. They could have removed all the tree trunks and planted some flowers or shrubs in that area. It would have still been pretty...but not magical.

    Linda - I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

    Ruth - I agree. Pretty incredible, isn't it? And I don't think they're finished yet.

    Tex - I thought so, too!

    Petra - I like the wizard, too. And I marvel at the imagination of the artists who could look at those dead tree trunks and visualize the characters they would create.

    Hilary - Yes, that pesky little emerald ash borer has done unimaginable damage all over the U.S. I also like the "tree chief" you mentioned. I'm not sure what he's supposed to be, but the artist who created him certainly gave that tree new life.

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  9. Excellent photos, Linda! We see mostly bears carved out of logs in our neck o' the woods so this was interesting. I'm planning a trip to a local arboretum with the grands next week.
    Have a lovely weekend!
    Toni

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    1. Thanks, Toni. I've been in your neck of the woods often enough to know just what you mean about those bears carved out of logs. :)

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