Touch Art Experience

Often with your first child you take a lot of pictures.    This was the case with my first tree creation (2007).  I had been working for Paul-André for about a year before he let me make my own creation.  I call it "First Kiss."  Now I have the impression that the rock is a little too large for the size of tree - but it gives more context, more of a base for orienting one to the tree.  Here are some of the pics taken as the branches were coming to life: I remember the beauty of seeing something come into being.  In creating we image our creator!  People have asked if I follow a model or picture when I make a tree.  I usually start with a general sense of what I would like to try - but the creation itself has its own voice... its own will.  As I'm creating I'm also listening to the work - attending to how the wires already have natural kinks and twists - and co-creating with them.  The final product has an element of surprise in it for me.

Is this a website - up and running? I should introduce myself. My name is David Warner. I wish I could ask you about what you would like to know about me... I'm Canadian.  I grew up in Ontario, spent a few years in Nova Scotia, Vancouver - British Columbia, Cameroon - Africa, and now Cowansville, Quebec. I enjoy hiking in forests and along rivers, spending time with my wife, swimming, playing with my children, collecting rocks, and making trees. I've been making trees for over 12 years, working under Paul-Andre Leblanc -  http://lhommequifaitdesarbres.ca/en/experience-2/ I am interested in how trees are perfect metaphors for the human existence. They experience loss - broken branches, cut roots, stripped bark.     They grow in different soils - hard and rocky, soft and rich, by a river, on a mountain They have a history They need the stable security of the soil and a hopeful reaching for the light They persevere regardless of what they face Be the tree

A lot of art is untouchable. They enclose a masterpiece behind glass so it doesn't get ruined. This art is different.  Often at shows I see people who can't resist the temptation to touch it... is it a real tree?  Was it a real tree with wires glued to it?  I applaud these brave souls- and I encourage them. When I would see a child walking by I would sometimes hand them one.  Then I watch the horror on the parents' face as they "break" the tree by putting the branches 'out of place'.  It was always a delight to see the children actually notice the trees, may-be experiencing trees in a new way - holding it in their hands - and looking up close. These are TAE trees - ones you can experience by touching - and even re-shaping the branches. Here is one simple example of what can be done: This tree...  would be called a Hokidachi bonsai style (Broom) - if this were living.  but... It can be changed to a willow tree. The hope behind