April 27, 2011 Interpreting Horticultural Therapy Start
May 2, 2011 Interpreting Horticultural Therapy Finish
Leaf column is linked to living nature by taunt monofilament line tied to supporting trees and park foliage.
Monofilament becomes a trellis for spring vine against a contrasting background of native lifelessness.
Interpreting Horticultural Therapy
Defining Green Sculpture Exhibition Russ Pitman Park April 27 - May 2, 2011
It is Houston’s huge tree leaf canopy that defines green for me. I felt this tree stump oddly tall and without purpose, so I rehabilitated it with my own interpretation of coppicing. Coppicing interested me because it can make a harvestable, woodland crop out of what seems like a damaged life- a tree stump.
Horticulturally speaking, when a tree is coppiced properly, many shoots emerge which are characteristically curved at the base, creating a woodland forest of sucker branches that create new, miniature versions of forestland. Those many branches create tree canopies for every stump. A coppiced tree will never die of old age, and can be coppiced repeatedly for its twig stalk and tiny branch material. If a tree is improperly coppiced by a human, like this one, it needs extreme care and tiny tethering to its nearest lifelike neighbor species in order for the tiny timber to grow new, however oddly shaped and twisted, landscape canopies. jw
Thank you! Urban Artists Sue Patrick and Anne Haass Autumn in Houston, TX
