Talking Trees
A concrete sculptural mosaic of trees and logs
Eileen Gay
Sculpted out of foam with an intricate mosaic pattern attached by concrete, these trees and logs were designed by Eileen to represent time, weather and nature. They surround a central drum featuring Alaska’s state flower, the Forget-me-not, and form a gathering place for talking, listening, sharing, and learning.
With drawings and engineering approved for Talking Trees, she ordered the high-density EPS pieces for the design. From her drawings, the vendor made a computer plan and cut the basic column forms to get her started – even pre-splitting them to enable us to inset the steel piping with attachment and pick point hardware.
Then came the fun part. She used her Hot Wire Bow Cutter to carve away masses of shavings to create natural looking tree-like shapes. Next, rasp work smoothed and rounded the tree trunks.
With forms shaped, She covered the shapes using overlapping fiberglass mesh strips over the entire sculptures. A few coats of cement and fiberglass mesh later, and the finished trees were ready to thinset her mosaic tile designs. Once the tile mosaic was installed on the trees, logs, and drum, she grouted them using various colors.
This artwork is featured at Airport Heights Elementary School as part of Anchorage’s 1% For Art program.