Written By Alan Good
TRAVEL - This trip isn’t far, but as the Friendly Giant implored, you’ll need to, “Look up! Look way up”. Look up, or at least at, almost thirty tree carvings located around London, mostly in its center.
The Tree Trunk Tour presents an array of sculpted works done by chainsaw and displayed on city streets. The project is a partnership between Tourism London, the City of London, STIHL Canada, and the Hamilton Road Business Association.
After the first five carvings were completed with community support, Tourism London became involved and, with the support of STIHL Canada and the City of London, saw (no pun intended) the potential in a walking tour and began to organize more of the tree carvings as public art. Later it grew along Hamilton Road with the addition of fifteen carvings.
STIHL Canada is headquartered in London and has matched Tourism London’s financial contribution to the project as well as supplied the artists with equipment and clothing.
Artists hail from London, but also British Columbia, New Brunswick and South Africa, most moving this way for occupations. Some began at an early age (10-19) and most have won awards or written on the subject of wood carving with chain saws.
It takes about four weeks to transform a tree into a sculpture, first using drawings after measuring the stump. Some 95% of the carving is done with chainsaws ranging in size from large blocking saws to delicate carving saws. Detailed finishing work is accomplished with chisels and power rotary tools. Later, the Artwork is usually painted or stained and then coated with automotive polyurethane enamel to preserve the wood against the weather.
The Tree Trunk Tour demonstrates London’s love of trees and its reputation as the ‘Forest City’. Now, you don’t have to go into an art gallery to view works of art—just drive, or walk, around London. Google “Tree Trunk Tour” for more information and locations of all the artwork.
