Blog # 5

     Greetings again! Last week I completed my 5^th Hug. Alas, classwork caught up with me and I am now updating my Hug report a week later. This most recent Hug was installed on Wofford College's campus, on the corner of the DuPré residence hall and Evins Street. I picked this tree for its large knot that I saw as an eye as well as its proximity to the Art Studio so my fellow classmates could visit my work.

     Out of all my Hugs, I found this one to provide new challenges that I found more difficult to overcome. This location was more public than the previous ones, and for this reason I was intimidated that a Campus Safety officer or another individual would approach me and tell me what I was doing was not permitted. This however, did not happen. Yay! Guess I am too paranoid.

     What further was challenging in this space was the lack of strong features on the tree and its daunting height. Unlike my other trees, this one spoke the least to me about what its personality was. As a result I made up my own interpretation with little feedback from the tree's personality. The final product that I came up with is a surprised, exclamatory individual of a tree. Here are the characteristics that made this possible:

• Eyes: white icing, green leaves, mulch
• Eyebrows: peanut butter and rotini pasta
• Nose: peanut butter and candy corn
• Mustache: peanut butter and rotini pasta
• Mouth: crunchy peanut butter and pink icing
• Tattoo: peanut butter over engraved Greek letters

      Overall I am pleased with the way the tree turned out in light of the time-constraint I had (Studio time) and the height of the tree that prevented me from adding features above the eyebrows. I had a lot of passerbys who stopped, inquired about my project with curiosity and interest and left with a smile on their face. I even had a student take a picture of me with my Hug! So, what I accomplished with this Hug over others thus far is the ability to reach out to a wider group of people. The key is putting it in a more public area!

-Krista

Hug # 4

      Hug # 4 happened today! This encounter is the first of my Branching Out series to take place in a new location, on Wofford College's campus. As a Senior at Wofford, I feel that impacting one of my local communities would be a great way for me to carry out this project.

      So, after lunch today I strolled down Wofford's Liberty Trail, which runs alongside the football stadium, in search of a tree in need of some art attention. Most of the trees on Liberty Trail are tall with few branches in arm's reach as well as few reliefs and details, save their bark. Despite the lack of unique qualities in Liberty Trail's grove, I spotted a gnarly tree with three trunks and many knobs and branches halfway through my walk. I knew this was my tree! At first I was unsure of what portion of this tree I would work with. There were many interesting angles and heights that all held untold artistic opportunities! After a few walks around the tree, I decided upon my spot, low to the ground with a large knot from an absent limb.

      The final personality that emerged is of a female tree blinking. This personification was possible by incorporating the following elements and materials:

• Mouth: peanut butter
• Lips: pink strawberry icing
• Nose: Peanut butter covered in rotini pasta
• Eyes: White icing, pecan tree leaves, a rotten pecan shell, and candy corn
• Eyelashes: peanut butter and rotini pasta
• Jewelry (earring and pearl necklace): peanut butter and marshmallows

      I am pleased with my fourth hug, primarily because of the emotion she is wearing and sending out to others. Looking at her I feel that I am part of her recently told joke and that we are sharing a laugh. I hope that others, looking at these photographs and physically meeting her, also experience a moment that is alive in this exchange between the individual and my Hug.

Winking off!

Krista 

Hug # 3

My third Hug in Bat Cave, NC was quite a whimsical encounter.  This Hug was of a smaller tree (possibly a dogwood) that has quite a long and bumpy nose.  I knew when we met this tree was a cousin to Albus Dumbledore with his thin-frame, long face and crooked nose.

Thus, I began helping this tree show his fanciful self in an outwardly fashion.  To accomplish this, I did the following:

·         Eyes:  peanut butter, pineapple rings, white icing, chestnuts and dogwood berries

·         Nose:  peanut butter and candy corn

·         Facial hair:  peanut butter and popcorn

·         Mouth:  strawberry icing

·         Arms:  strawberry icing and marshmallows

·         Hat:  peanut butter and green leaves  

Now, looking at him, I really do think this is a relative to a wizard who has transfigured himself into a vegetative state.  He makes me tickled inside since he is not conforming to just having an expression, but showing it proudly.  I also think it is appropriate to have a wizard-like figure in this forested area.  It gives the entire grove a mystical feeling as if I am in Narnia or waiting for fairy nymphs to appear. 

Krista

Hug # 2

Have you ever walked into a scene filled with emotion and felt that you had intruded?  I experienced this today while in Bat Cave, NC.  After completing my first Hug, I walked around the area and walked in upon what I saw as a lady-tree in mid-scream and/or shock.  I felt she needed a little help getting that across to the general passerby, so I took her on as part of my art project.  Thus I found my second Hug.

Hug # 2 is about 20 feet away from Hug #1 and also sits at the bottom of the large monadnock behind her.   Her most prominent feature from our first acquaintance was her shocked state, exemplified by her mouth. 

Here’s a quick list of what I did to help personify her:

·         Mouth:  outlined with pink strawberry icing

·         Nose:  peanut butter covered in popcorn and a marshmallow with a decaying leaf for the nostril

·         Eye:  whites in vanilla icing, green leaves for iris, black leaves for pupil, sticks for eye liner and a marshmallow 

·         Earring:  pineapple ring, peanut butter and rotini pasta

This tree was a scream (no pun intended!) to personify.  However I was disappointed that I was not able to accentuate her more by adding hair or an eyebrow.  Sadly I am not tall enough and was unable to reach any higher than her eye.  However, I am quite proud that I am able to show by working with Hug # 2 that there does exist tree personalities that are not necessarily complacent.  I hope that there are many more Hugs to come that also show the great diversity there is in a forest!

Signing off!

-Krista the Tree hugger

Hug # 1

     Greetings from Bat Cave, NC!  This weekend I decided to leave campus and head towards the mountains right as the weather is cooling.  Conditions could not be better for being outside and working on this project! 

     As today was the beginning of my actual implementation of this project, I was not sure where I would be lead.  I ended up taking a stroll down the road where I am staying, hopped across the creek and entered a secondary growth forest with 3 trees that each stood out immediately with faces begging to be emphasized.

     My first work, Hug #1, is of a tree residing at the footsteps of a steep incline.  He has a large knot nose and an easy-to-see eye and mouth.  All I had to do was make others see that too! 

Here’s a quick-list of what I did:

·         Mouth: candy corn and peanut butter

·         Nose: peanut butter, strawberry icing and rice

·         Eyes:  Vanilla icing, local ferns, local cones, leaf litter

·         Hat:  yellow leaves, large twig and peanut butter

     I think his mouth is my favorite part because it is frowning on one side and smiling on the other.  Depending on which side of the tree you are, he changes emotions!   What I also love about my first hug is that he sits low to the ground.  Normally when I see faces on trees they are more elevated.  Guess it goes to show that trees are quite diverse like people!

-Krista