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Trace Fork Sculpture Garden
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| The
location of this project is along US 119 south of
Charleston, WV. THF Realty commissioned us to
create a sculpture at the entrance to the Trace
Fork Shopping Plaza. |
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| The
requirements were that it be a floral display and
that it have enough "splash" to stand
out along a busy highway. A few ten foot
sunflowers seemed like they would fill the
bill. Working within a landscape plan
developed by a local firm and using the sunflowers
as the focal point, we developed additional floral
sculptures to compliment both the location and the
natural plant material in the landscape. |
|
Click
on an image for a larger version
(Use your back button to return) |
| A
detailed study of sunflowers was the next
step. We had time to examine sunflowers in a
local garden before the last frost and developed a
proto- type shown here. It measures about
15" across - the largest ones in the
sculpture are 36". |
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We
completed the first sunflower that winter and
placed it behind the shop to give it a feel for
what its future would be. |
| Click
for a detail of the flower |
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| By
late winter, all the sunflowers are completed and
getting to know each other. |
Matt
and Jay creating sunflowers at the forge. |
| In
early spring, we were ready to finalize plans
with the landscape designer and the property
manager. It was necessary to decide on
the placement of each sculpture so that the
concrete foundations could be poured and
electricity for the lighting installed.
We felt that the best way to accomplish this
was to make plywood mock-ups of each of the
flowers. Using these gave everyone an
idea of the visual impact the final sculpture
would have. |
| Meanwhile,
back at the forge, more flowers have joined
their friends. |
| By
early May, the flowers were ready for the trip
to their permanent home. After being
secured on the trailer and making a swing
through downtown Spencer, the flowers hit the
road. |
| On
site the flowers were positioned according to
the layout developed earlier with the mock-ups
and bolted to a concrete slab. Dirt was
then mounded around the slab and living
flowers and plants added. Of course,
there was the ribbon cutting. |
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