Tangled Branches

An amazing display of art is at the Botanic Gardens in Denver, Colorado. The artist is Deborah Butterfield and she takes pieces of driftwood, sticks, mud, metal and tree branches to make sculptures of  horses. Through out the gardens there are thirteen horses on display. At first glance, it looks like wood nestled together to form the horse, but in
watching a video about how she got started in working with the branches I found out that after the horse is formed, it is taken apart piece by piece and each piece is numbered. Casts  are made of each piece, dipped in a metal solution, and finally painted to look like wood. Each piece is numbered so that it can be replaced in its original spot after the pieces go through the process. The painting to look like wood is the final step before it becomes a sculpture.


Many different flowers were blooming and bees were having a field day.  I was with friends who knew the correct names of the flowers and there are many varieties. I call them all "flowers."



 All the sculptures have names like Charlo & Alulani, Hawaii, Willy, Crane, Red Forest, Many Glacier, Silver Bow & Cascade, Tracery, Lucky, Whitebark, Luna, Storm Castle and Argus. My favorite was Silver Bow because it seemed to glow with a florescent light.

Even though the day was hot, there were plenty of shady spots to stand in and cool off. We met for lunch at the Hive Garden Bistro and enjoyed Wild Mushroom pizza.

The ponds with the lily pads were attractive as the flowering pads rested above the dark water.
 
What a fun and interesting day for five women who ventured from Arvada to the Botanic Gardens!