Pooktre Tree Shaping and the Art of Patience

This unique artform called Pooktre is one of whimsy and patience. A true example of humanity vs. nature or even more specifically a beautiful result of the the attempt to control nature over time.

Wikipedia describes Pooktre / Tree Shaping as the following:
"Tree shaping (also known as Pooktre, arborsculpture, tree training, and by several other alternative names) is the practice of training living trees and other woody plants into artistic shapes and useful structures. There are a few different methods of achieving a shaped tree, which share a common heritage with other artistic horticultural and agricultural practices, such as pleaching, bonsai, espalier, and topiary, and employing some similar techniques. Most artists use grafting to deliberately induce the inosculation of living trunks, branches, and roots, into artistic designs or functional structures. To achieve these art forms, many different tree species have been used, but some trees are better suited than others."

http://homebuilding.thefuntimesguide.com/2008/02/pooktre_tree_shapers.php

Glass in the Landscape

Many have seen stained glass inside the home environment, but what about outside? Why not integrate stained glass art and concepts into the great outdoors. Much like sculpture, why not bring the creative art of stained glass into the landscape and more specifically - into our gardens?

Photo by Draftroots, Stained Glass by Karen Gingrich

Sculpture Forest: Haliburton, Ontario, Canada

The Sculpture Forest in Haliburton Ontario is one of variety and surprise. Each sculpture features the work of a different artist. Located in Glebe Park, on the edge of Haliburton village, the Sculpture Forest shares the Park with the Haliburton Highlands Museum, Fleming College's Haliburton School of the Arts, Haliburton Nordic Trails and Haliburton Highlands Mountain Bike Trails. The natural landscape takes on new forms as one walks through a sculture forest / sculture garden. The natural forest elements start to look like scultures as well, as the created forms play tricks with your mind. One can see new beauty in nature when it is juxtaposed with art, and the distinction blurs as nature itself becomes the art.

"Guardians of the Forest" - Brett Davis (Bronze - 2004)

"A Conspiracy of Ravens" - John Mckinnon (Fabricated Welded Steel - 2012)

"Beaver" - Art Students of Haliburton Highlands Secondary School - 2002)

"Sleep of the Huntress" - Doug Stephens (Granite - 2004)

"Moose Scraps" - Leo Sepa (Found Vintage Farm Scraps - 2001)

"C to C" John Shaw-Rimmington (Stacked Dry Stone - 2007)

"Curled Figures" - Susan Low-Beer (Concrete Figures - 2003)

"Redwing Frond" - Darlene Bolahood (Steel & Acrylic Panels - 2003) All Photos by Draftroots

Artist Feature: Isaiah Zagar

Isaiah Zagar is a Mosiac Artist in Philadelphia

Bees: Nesting Boxes Pt.2

Here is a short video on making your own nesting box. Quick and easy. Don't let the simplicity keep your creativity at bay. Use this as a starting point for perhaps a more colourful or creative focal point or feature in the garden.

Sudbury's Delki Dozzi Park "Learning Shed" Design Competition

Draftroots has entered a community design competition! Ward 1 in Sudbury has requested submissions for the 2012 "Learning Shed" design competition. The following entry is by Draftroots Design.

Click the following link to view other entries.
http://www.facebook.com/ward1garden

Bees: Nesting Boxes

As we know, plants and insects live harmoniously - but why not lend a hand by adding a new feature to your backyard garden. Nesting boxes help to encourage our bumbling little buddies to hang out and pollinate those local neighbourhood flowers.

"Nestboxes provide artificial nesting space for female solitary, cavity-nesting bees and pest-controlling wasps."

www.tobee.ca

"Artificial nest boxes consist of two main parts, the box and the nest. Natural nests do not have a "box", the box is the surrounding soil, the grass tussock, etc. The material you use is unimportant. Wood is the favourite, but plastic, or metal are also possible. Two plastic flowerpots joined together make an inexpensive nest box, as do large metal cans with some form of lid."

www.bumblebee.org

Furthermore, scientists and enthusiasts continue to study bee populations as their numbers have been declining over the years. One interesting study is being conducted by Scott Maciver in Toronto , ON. His work can be further explored at www.tobee.ca

The Living Wall

The living Wall is a great alternative for large concrete sound barriers. It can be used to naturalize rural and urban environments when a privacy screen is needed. It is 100% biodegradeable and a very green option for privacy and sound buffering. It absorbs CO2 and acts as a filter for air born pollutants.







For more info check out www.livingwall.net

Warming Huts: Winnipeg's Architectural Draw

Winnipeg hosts a design competition for Architects. The goal is to have a series of warming stations along the river, where skaters can stop and take a breather. Participants include Professional Architects as well as students - all competing for a feature spot on the skating trail.

As stated on theforks.com website:
"The first, and possibly the most anticipated hut, comes from world renowned invited architect, Frank Gehry.
“Over the past two years this competition has grown exponentially in terms of international recognition. Case in point, Frank Gehry agreed to participate base on an ask by letter,” says Paul Jordan, Chief Operating Officer, The Forks. “Having Gehry and his team participate is the icing on a very big cake.”
Gehry, the designer behind such iconic projects as the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Dancing House in Prague, and the Strata Center in Cambridge, will design a hut made from large blocks of ice entitled, FIVE-HOLE. The blocks are slated to be shipped from Montreal especially for Gehry’s project."









Visit http://www.warminghuts.com for more info and photos

Featured Artist: Sean Martindale

Featured Artist: Paul Mantrop, Painter

As stated on his website www.paulmantrop.com, "Paul was born in 1968. He studied at the Ontario College of Art and then went to Florence, Italy, to continue his studies. Upon returning from Europe, Paul became a founding member of the painting group DRAWNONWARD. This group's active mandate is to explore Canada's landscape through painting. What started as a two-week canoe trip along the Montreal River has led the group to cover more than 100,000 kilometres of Canada's wilds. Travelling by retrofitted school bus, converted milk truck, train, fishing boat, ship, canoe, kayak, snowshoe and ski, drawnonward has journeyed between both shores of Canada. Touring the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia; hiking the northern stretches the Yukon; traversing down the icy slopes of the Gaspe peninsula; cruising on a Russian exploration ship through the waters of Newfoundland and the Arctic - the group has strapped on paint boxes, carted supplies and put all of their journeys down on panels, paper and canvas."

The Vertical Garden

Let's leave the old fashioned horizontal gardens behind for a moment... and think about the future... a world of concrete jungles and hardscaping and city heat and grey highrise nauseum. But wait there is a new kind of garden making an appearance. The vertical garden offers a solution to break up the average concrete wall, provide green vistas within the city walls - on the city walls. These living walls help to clean the air, dampen noise, and even cool the urban environment. They are an interesting substitution for gardens that require lots of square footage that just doesnt exist.
Check out these pics...

Free Spirit Spheres

Free spirit spheres represent a new way of thinking about our environment. The tree house-like incarnation of the hotel/bed and breakfast getaway channels childlike emotion and excitement. It demands that the user set aside their pre-established expectations and comforts - in favour of a return to fun and play and literally nature. Forget about that overpriced and outdated hotel in the city and return to something simple and perhaps spiritual. A return to nature.

These spheres are located within the west coast rain forest of Vancouver Island, Canada - and are available for use 12 months of the year.

Check out the website for more info.

http://www.freespiritspheres.com/