Tuesday, June 2, 2009

6/2/2009 We Visit a Sculpture Garden

On the way to Mt. Ranier National Park I caught a glimpse of a horse made of what looked like metal out of the corner of my eye. I made a mental note to look for it on the way back. Am I ever glad I remembered!

We stopped at Ex-Nihilo (x-ne-high-low) Sculpture Park and were dazzled, surprised and in awe with every step we took. The sculptor, Dan Klenert uses metal and his imagination and creates the most fantastic sculptures.

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Take your time and really look at the pictures, see if you can figure out what old pieces were used. (Double click the pictures to enlarge if you want.)

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As we walked from piece to piece, and there were many to see, we could hear the music he works to. There had to be speakers all over the grounds because you always heard it. He was listening the day we were there to songs by the likes of Gordon Lightfoot and others of the genre all done by pan flute. It was so soothing and magical, if you will, because the sculptures were so whimsical. I took notice of everyone around and we all walked with big smiles.

We had a chance to talk with this amazing artist for a little while. He works in a big barn but you can't see inside. He keeps his next project a secret until its done.

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Mr. Klennert gets his materials from junkyards, abandoned farms,recycling bins and sometimes even fans. He calls it all "rusty gold".

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He says of this four acre garden, "It is a place where my metal offspring can run free and my creative spirit can hang out long after I'm gone."

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This amazing sculptor said that he has been known to work for two days straight and it seems like a normal eight hour day to him. Time has no meaning for him when he's creating.

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He doesn't just make animals and motorcycles!

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Close ups of the material used in the pieces above.

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His tribute to 9-11

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Everything is recycled here!

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Back to the sculptures.

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He certainly does have a sense of humor!

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A rock garden.

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Fish.

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Big bike and skeleton hanging.

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This one is my favorite.

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Inside the fence above is Dan Klennert's ......

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It must be true, "one man's junk is another man's treasure".

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One last parting shot before we leave....

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We were so glad we stopped here. It is truly a happy place.

1 comment:

LaVon Baker said...

That was amazing! What a gift to be able to look at scrap metal and see art! I just love it when we find unique places like this.