The Stick People

Today I went to Albuquerque with some friends to attend a class at Papers! to learn how to make a paper wreath. But before the class we did a few things. Peggy and Diane did a little letterboxing in the bosque - they found a crawdad, a climbing tree and a pedalin girl. It was fun and nice along the bosque but it was really cold. Before the class we had some dinner at Il Vicino. We had a nice dinner and got to relax in a warm place before making our way to Papers! for the class. We made a nice wreath that was pretty easy and could be made for just about any occasion. The one we made tonight was for Christmas. But all you have to do is change the type of paper you use to get the desired effect for whatever celebration you wanted.

But the thing that stood out for me was the stick people at the Bosque School. A group of New Mexico arts organizations have gotten together to present LAND/ART. So after the letterboxing and before dinner we made our way to the Bosque School to see an exhibit by Patrick Dougherty. He uses tree saplings to create semi-permanent sculptures. At the school he created three sculptures that are faces. They stand close together and are intertwined with a tree. It was incredible. You can walk through them and look up into them. They are pretty tall (maybe 20 feet or so) and the structure is wonderful. There were also a few pieces that were not anything specific - more like little rooms that you could walk through. I was truly amazed at the artwork and now I want Patrick to come to my house and create one in my yard. No way is that gonna happen but I can dream. You should check out the website and see if there is anything that he is doing in your area and try to get there to see it. I promise you won't be disappointed.