Giant Tree Sculpture Cast from the Trunk of a 140-Year-Old Hemlock

Recently unveiled at the MadArt space in Seattle, Middle Fork is the latest sculptural work by artist John Grade who worked with countless volunteers to help build this enormous mould of a 140-year-old tree.

I Don't Like Mondays by Ben Turnbull

"Guns are Forbidden Fruit"  In 2009 at west London's Eleven gallery, artist Ben Turnbull from London UK put on an exhibition of seven pieces entitled  'I Don't Like Mondays'. Controversially these were images of a variety of guns carved into old school desks.

Lesson 1, 60 x 120 cm/24 x 47 in (carved desk), 2009

Matchstick Men by Wolfgang Stiller

In 2013 German artist Wolfgang Stiller had been experimenting with art materials leftover in his studio from a movie production in china while he was residing in beijing.  This is when he began his matchstick project with moulds of Chinese faces and bamboo.

Piano Tree

California state University, Monterey Bay  "Piano Tree"  in a forested area on their Disc Golf course.  A living installation by artist Jeff Mifflin.

Although the piano itself is believed to be just a stage prop which was cut apart then placed around the tree behind the California State University music department by artist Jeff Mifflin, the tree carried on growing and parting the timber of the piano for some time until a drunkard decided to smash it up.
Watch a video of an interview with Jeff Mifflin here.

Giuseppe Penone: The Hidden Life Within

The image below is one I have skipped past many times while surfing for 'woody wonders' but have only just got round to investigating further.

“My artwork shows, with the language of sculpture, the essence of matter and tries to reveal with the work, the hidden life within.”

–Giuseppe Penone

Giuseppe Penone (born April 3, 1947) is an Italian artist. Penone started working professionally in 1968 in the Garessio forest, near where he was born. He is the younger member of the Italian movement named "Arte Povera", Penone's work is concerned with establishing a contact between man and nature.

Guiseppe Penone carves out a young tree within an older tree to reveal its past, showing us what once grew inside so that it may now "live in the present." Inspired by the quiet slowness of growth in the natural world, the artist asks us to take a moment to stop and think about the concept of time and how there's a common vital force in all living things.

Penone has carved out the wood to reveal its past, showing the tree that grew inside so that it may “live” in the present. Rather than imposing a form, the artist — in contrast to the architect of this space — draws out an existing form.

The next image of  Guiseppe working within the space of this massive tree in my mind captures the enormity of the artists devotion to this piece.

Randall Rosenthal and 'Cold Hard Cash'

When you study the work of Randall Rosenthal you can't help but be in awe of this mans talent, the way he emulates a stack of paper from solid blocks of wood reminds me of Livio De Marchi's carving skills when creating his wooden clothing.  Lets start off by taking a look at:

'Cold Hard Cash'   2012 , acrylic and ink on one block of Vermont White Pine, 14 x 14 x 10" 

It doesn't matter how long you look at this piece you cannot convince yourself it is carved from one solid block of white pine then diligently painted. Here are some great shots of the work in progress.

Randall Rosenthal.

BORN:           1947 New York, New York
EDUCATION:  1965-69 Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

A personal favourite of mine is 'Cutting Board'  because of the variety of materials he has so successfully copied.

'Cutting board'  in progress.

And here, a selection of some of Randall's other pieces, it's hard to remember these are all carved from solid blocks of wood !

If you wish to fully explore the weird world of Randall Rosenthal check out his website: www.randallrosenthal.com

Other sources:

www.bernarduccimeisel.com

Randall's forum posts of  'Old Money' on sawmillcreek.org

The World's Longest Wooden Sculpture

A wooden sculpture, featuring the famous painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," succeeds in creating a new Guinness World Record - "the world's longest wooden sculpture" - on November 14, 2013.

Chinese artist Zheng Chunhui spent four years creating the sculpture, which is 12.286 meters long, 3.075 meters high and 2.401 meters wide.

It’s no surprise that this incredible work of art is drawing so much attention. It’s amazing, but not just because it’s so big, but also because it’s so incredibly detailed.

Four years in the making, the tree carving is based on a famous painting called “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” which is a historical holiday reserved to celebrate past ancestors that falls on the 104th day after the winter solstice. 

The original painting, referred to as the 'Chinese Mona Lisa' because of its fame, was completed during the Song Dynasty by artist Zhang Zeduan.It is painted on a hand scroll and was designed to be looked at by slowly unrolling the paper from right to left, an arm's length at a time, like an ancient comic strip.It is considered of huge historical importance as it documents the day-to-day lives of Chinese people, both rich and poor, 900 years ago.

Several later versions were created but with scenes added from the Ming and Qing times, in keeping with the Chinese tradition of contemporary artists reworking ancient masterpieces.

While Chunhui's version will be easy to distinguish for obvious reasons, it doesn't add any scenes from modern-day China.

On November 14th the Guinness World Records arrived in Fuzhou, Fujian Province where the piece is currently on display to declare it the longest continuous wooden sculpture in the world.

Tree Sculptures by artist Philippe Handford

These visually stunning sculptures by artist Philippe Handford turn illegally cut down trees into impressive artworks.

Philippe has essentially reconnected these cut up trees in an interesting way. These incredible forest sculptures can be found in Northwest England. 

Philippe started doing this in 2012 but has recently created more chopped down tree sculptures. The newest ones are done in arches that intersect with one another, as where Handford's first fallen tree sculpture looked more like a crawling inchworm.

These shots show off Philippe's beautiful works both in summer and winter. These sculptures some how look even more stunning when they are lightly covered in snow. 

Wooden sculptures are pretty common, but the idea of putting cut down trees back together in the woods is an extremely creative approach to wooden art.

Check out Philippe Handford's work on his web site below  :-)

http://www.handforddesign.co.uk