Thursday, May 26, 2011

Art So Real ...


The dogs are barking. Incessantly.

They are standing on our bed in back of the motorhome, looking out the window and barking.

We call out to them to hush. They don't. We stand and wiggle our fingers at them. But they bark. And bark.
OK. SOMETHING is out there. And the dogs are worried. They aren't barkers. They usually hush on our first insistence. Well, maybe on our second.

But they are barking and ignoring our pleas -- our demands -- for silence. So SOMETHING OUT THERE is troubling them.

But it can't be serious. We're parked in downtown Chetwynd, BC, at the Visitor's Center, getting ready to explore the art that makes this place the Chainsaw Sculpture Capital of the World. We're surrounded by amazing craftmanship, amazing artistry.

Since 2005, artists from Japan, Germany, the US, and even right here in Chetwynd spend three days each June using their chainsaws -- THEIR CHAINSAWS -- to carve art out of cedar logs 8 feet long and 3 feet wide.

The sculptures decorate the town, in public spaces, in parks, along paths, on street corners, along sidewalks. So we plan to go for a walk, with the dogs, and enjoy this art.

And the walk is happening sooner than we planned because the dogs are barking and we can't shush them.
So I go into the back of the motorhome to look out the window. To see what they see.

And I see it. A bear.

The dogs are barking at a massive grizzly rearing behind a pickup truck. And he's roaring. A forever roar. Because he's a work of art. A sculpture. A wooden chainsaw creation.

And he's so realistic, he fooled my dogs.

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