The Planting Of Trees

During my first post, I showed you some panels around the depot station about the process of designing and creating a topiary. The specific one that was about is the one I'm showing you today, which was found on both sides of the pathway, one of the new ones. The Man Who Planted Trees finds its roots in a fable by Jean Giono. Frederic Back, a Canadian artist and animation director, won an Academy award for his short film adaptation of the story, which led to the creation of this work. The story is about a shepherd who seeks to transform a desolate area into a woodland, starting with a young oak. The man is surrounded by his sheep, his dog, and a couple of horses looking on across the path. These topiaries from design to finished work probably take up the most amount of time in their design- figuring out what plants must be placed where in the framework so that the colours and patterns will ultimately come out right. The stones evoke the arid quality of the setting.

The big sheepdog has a particular sense of whimsy to it. 

In the background above and below you can make out some of the topiaries we've already seen, and below the familiar shape of the Canadian Museum of History also shows itself.

For context, that oak tree is the size of one you'd be planting on your property. These sculptures definitely are larger than life.

This resting sheep alongside the shepherd caught my eye.

Across the path, two horses look on amid prairie grasses. I photographed them from two angles, including with the river in the background.

Here we have views from alongside the horses back to the rest of the topiary.

I paused here to take another look at where I had come from along the path.