All eyes are on wood carver

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2010 (5688 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you check out Royalwood’s Bois des Esprits in the near future you might catch some eyes peering back at you.

Since January, wood carver Murray Watson has been creating wood spirits and wildlife out of trees in the south end forest. The project was inspired by his desire to create more lasting works than the ice sculptures he carves for the Festival du Voyageur.

“I wanted something that wouldn’t melt away when the warm weather hit,” he says, noting the wood spirits and wildlife art are a perfect fit for Bois des Esprits, the largest green space along the Seine River and Winnipeg’s largest riverbank forest.

After getting the city’s blessing, Murray and city officials searched for suitable trees for the project.

“The idea is to use dead trees only and I was looking for ones that had quite a bit of character, especially for the wood spirit carvings,” he says.

Trees were also selected because of their proximity to pedestrian and bicycle paths that wind their way through the forest. Murray says while they are just off the beaten path, the carvings are welcome additions to the woodland.

“People are certainly out here looking for them and at them. But they could miss them if aren’t paying attention,” he says.

Watson, a self-taught carver who began working with wood in 1988, says the forest project began as a simple attempt to work in a larger medium.

“I really saw it as a bit of practice for myself,” he says. “I really wanted to try something different. Normally I work on smaller projects.”
Some of these smaller projects can be seen at the Wah-Sa Art Gallery in the Johnston Terminal at The Forks. Thus far the jewel of his work is a small but life-sized carving of a great grey owl carved into an elm.

“The owl is a great provincial symbol,” he notes.

Watson says that while his work is basically complete, visitors may eventually see some additions to the woodland menagerie.

“I still have to finish and treat them, but there is always the potential to do more. I think a heron may find its way into the woods. The outdoors is a pretty great workshop!”

rob.brown@canstarnews.com