Saturday, February 13, 2010

Short Sugar & the Willow Oak


















This is my little Short Sugar, a ferrier's anvil that Robert gave me as my MFA graduation present. It came from NC Tool. Also pictured is my sinking stump. I had a favorite tree one street over from our apartment that Sharon Massey and I shared in G-vegas. One day in the spring of 06 Robert came to visit. I took him by the tree it looked like some old tree out of Lord of the Rings! And huge Ent of a thing. We looked it up and as best we can figure it was a HUGE willow oak. Two days later at 8 am I heard chain saws!!! Some redneck tree removal company was cutting her down! I cried! I walked on to ECU and then realized, hey! I could maybe get one of the stumps! So I ran back and talked with the dudes and they let me pick out an upper branch and cut it into three beautiful stumps for me and brought them to the apartment with a bobcat. I tried to pay them with a case of beer but they refused. They were all reformed alcoholics and had a bible thumper for a boss. Hana Jubran from the sculpture dept at ECU took most of the large pieces of the tree. It took Robert and I and a few damaged shins to get two of the stumps to Wilmington. Then a friend who is both a blacksmith and master arborist, shaped the hollows for my sinking stump.
I was at ECU last weekend and took this shot. I'm reasonably sure these are the trunk of that same tree. So it is being reborn through artists!

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