Pooktre

Pooktre <--- Click for more!

I stumbled across this website a few weeks ago... apparently this couple has figured out how to manipulate the growth of trees in order to create living sculptures; they call the art "Pooktre." They either keep them alive in their own garden or they "harvest" and finish them to sell. They make furniture (see pictures below), jewelry, and other items by "molding" the trees as they grow. Does this sound familiar? The Art of Bonsai uses similar methods but instead does a lot of pruning in order to give the tree its miniature size as well as molding the tree as it grows. My mom and I took up the Bonsai hobby for a while a couple years ago, but as it is a very tedious and time-consuming project, we were only able to come out with one completed bonsai... I will get her to take a picture of it and I will post it later... Pooktre is really fascinating because it is similar to Bonsai, but on a larger scale. With my experience in creating bonsai and my previous knowledge and interest in the subject, I have a deep appreciation for the kind of work that would need to be put into projects of this magnitude. This sort of goes along with the discussion we had in class last week about how interests and passions can coincide with the discovery of something new or a new idea and will make it that much more wonderful. The painstaking efforts that must go in to something like this are fascinating in and of themselves. This would take an enormous amount of patience, which is something that many artists need to have. Attention to detail is pertinent and difficult. This is something I admire greatly in artisans of different crafts, including those at Pooktre. Here are some more examples of their work:
http://www.pooktre.com