Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Why we did it

Today it's raining.  The earth needs the rain...the soil is so dry even where we've been watering.  So, I'm not complaining.  I'll just remember when the day was sunny and the sky was blue.  Like last Saturday when we embarked on our waterfront  adventure.  This is why we went:


I had seen the photos of this wonderful raven carved from the stump of a Douglas fir blown down in the huge windstorm we had a few years ago.  A great number of trees in Stanley Park were toppled.  Most of the wood was harvested.  Some was used in park projects.  And a certain 6 foot by 6 foot stump remained.


Artist Richard Krentz could see a raven in the wood.  While he was creating, the public watched and even helped to place the shells.  And I especially like that river of shells which could be the raven's feathers.  Or maybe something else?  Raven is a notorious trickster, according to Coast Salish legends.

How he tricked me into getting out to have an adventure when none was planned is a mystery.  I don't think of myself as an impulsive person.  But I've noticed how impulses often make my choices in life - usually it is exactly the right one for me.  My unconscious being must be far cleverer than my conscious.

7 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

The raven is wonderful!!!! Will he have a name, and where is he residing? I hope they keep him inside somewhere, so he does not get weatherbeaten.

Robin said...

What a wonderful raven, and a beautiful tribute to the fallen tree. I remember that storm, we were in Vancouver (and Stanley Park) just after it happened.

And nope, that particular lobster didn't get eaten, at least not that day. It was caught by a tour boat for show, they catch and release. Many of his neighbors weren't so lucky though (but they sure tasted good).

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Anonymous said...

I think this looks like a shy female raven wearing a ballgown.
Maybe just wishful thinking!
Wasn't it a fantastic idea to carve this out of the tree stump- like a phoenix rising from the ashes of the bad storm, but now you have a beautiful piece of art, and the community was involved too.

Mimi said...

Sorry, Stephanie, that above comment was me, no idea why blogger hid my identity.

Anonymous said...

This is great, wow!
...and the prices of jewellery are quite OK ;-)

EG CameraGirl said...

I like this sculpture a lot. Thanks for telling the story behind it. I remember the storm that destroyed so many trees but look at this great sculpture that was created as a result!

Anonymous said...

I haven't seen this sculpture before, it is very neat.

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