David Franklin

  • Public Art
  • Portfolio
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

New Installation “Sculpture in the Garden”

July 19, 2018 by David

The Crouching Figure Post
The Crouching Figure

The Back Story

This installation was made for the garden of a neighbor who travels the world collecting and teaching about exotic plants.  He has thereby created an amazing garden at his home in Indianola WA.  We have worked together on several projects over the years.  He was interested in a series of posts for installation in his garden.   He was interested in evoking some of the spirit of the Janseung  (a type of totem-like carving from Korea) that he has encountered in his travels.  Starting  at this point I began to research and draw.

Concept Drawing
Concept Drawing

This project is intended to have some of the whimsical aspects of Janseung merged with some southern Salish Sea and coastal Alaskan influence.  I chose second-growth Red Cedar for the project.  The Cedar is readily available and locally sourced, though often dismissed as a low grade material for carving. The cedar was the perfect choice for this project consisting of relatively simple, but large scale, sculptures.

Each post is set back into the garden with the bases mostly hidden by the lower story of growth.  The posts are mostly only able to be seen individually or with glimpses of another post in the background.  Each post reveals itself in unexpected ways as you move around this hidden paradise.

I enlisted the help of Spencer West to help carve and with the sourcing, milling prepping, install and some of the carving.  He is an accomplished timber framer and equipped with the tools to work with large logs.  Spencer was a great asset to the project.

The Tracks of the Bear Post
The Tracks of the Bear
Aarow Man post
Arrow Man
The Triangle Post
The Triangle Post
Tentacle
Tentacle
Faces of Day and Night
The Night and the Day
Tree Pattern Post
Tree Pattern Post
owl Post
Owl
Spencer West and The Circles and Squares
Spencer West and the Circles and Squares Post

Images of the Carving Process

Below are some progression pictures of the carving of the Tentacle.  The pictures depict Spencer’s rough out, secondly,  refining the curves, and adding the details in my studio.

Dave Meyers of Myorian Studios in Indianola also helped on the project.  Dave manufactured all the structural elements that hold up the posts.  The parts of this project were all made by Indianola artists.

rough out
preliminary shaping
refining the curves
carving the details

Thanks to: Camas West Spencer West, Dave Meyers, Sammy Hughes, and the best wife a guy could have, Joanne.

David

Filed Under: carving, Installations, News, Process, sculpture Tagged With: Art, carving, craft, garden art, indianola, Indianola Washington, primitivism, sculpture, tentacle, windcliff, woodworking

Subscribe

Get new blog posts and occasional updates from David.

Connect with David

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Site Search

Instagram

davidthefranklin

It has been an exciting inaugural season for @seat It has been an exciting inaugural season for @seattlekraken and @climatepledgearena and for #publicart collaborations with @prestonsingletaryglass we are both proud to have a #sculpture as part of the collection @seattlecenter a dream come true.  Next year we anticipate a deep playoff run!  Go #Kraken!
#octopus #pulpo #polvo #ութոտնուկ #أخطبوط #Zhāngyú #pugita #Pieuvre #Krake #heʻe #תמנון #gurita #Tako #wheke #blekksprut #Ākaṭōpasa #bläckfisk #kraken #tentacles #glass #art #publicart
Incredibly another tentacle has emerged in #eagleh Incredibly another tentacle has emerged in #eagleharbor near the #bainbridgeferry thankfully no one was injured but the neighbors were initially concerned.  Thanks to friend of the #kraken @billmarler who is now  more permanently entangled in #big #tentacles 🦑 than any other human.  @fluidconcreteanddesign @cascaragallerybi #willrobinson #valleybronze most importantly it’s @indianolafranklin that makes it all happen❤️ #bronzesculpture #woodcarving #woodworking #art #fineart #tentacles #tentakulë #مجسنبات #շոշափուկ #ticala #触手 #chapadlo #fangarm #galamay #Tentakel #触手 #sungut #tentáculo #'au'au #촉수 #kākahu #tua #טענטאַקאַל #tentacolo
Throwback to installing #DriftInversion in #Denver Throwback to installing #DriftInversion in #Denver with @aawhelton and the entire #Franklin family It won a national public art award from #publicartnetwork and was featured in @hifructosemag @hifructose.littleboxes #publicart #sculpture #installationart #aluminium #escultura #fineart #beeldhouwwerk #sochařství #雕塑 #eskultura #γλυπτική #النحت #kiʻi kiʻi #Skulptur #彫刻 #patung #skulptur #ਮੂਰਤੀ
Look out! More #tentacles emerge on #bainbridgeis Look out!  More #tentacles emerge on #bainbridgeisland at #battlepointpark attracted by the incredible community built  #playpark #kidsupplayground made possible by community members and the awesome @biparksfoundation play with #imagnation #sculpture #bronzesculptures #tentacles #tentacle #觸手 #tentakel #galamay #tentacule #πλοκάμι #ʻūhā #मूंछ #sungut #tentacolo #触手 #촉수 #kākahu #tentáculo #dokunaç #หนวด #tua  Special thanks to @indianolafranklin and #valleybronzefoundry Be sure and keep an eye on your kids, tentacles  are emerging all over the place. More to come….
Load More... Follow on Instagram

red tentacle spiral logoCopyright © 2022 David Franklin · site by LND