The Trees on Stephen Avenue

These structures are located in Calgary’s downtown at Bankers Hall.  They are called The Trees and were erected in 2000.  At 85 feet tall, they loom over the pedestrian street and command attention.   They were designed to break up the wind in the corridor created by the street as it runs east to west through downtown.

A friend of mine is a painter and we went downtown yesterday to build a series of images that he can use for reference of a large canvas he wants to work on.  It was a lot of fun to collaborate on the front end of his creative process.  I’m looking forward to watching his vision come to life.

I really like the abstract forms that can be created out of the sculpture’s curves and the angular lines of the surrounding buildings.  Combined with the reflections in the windows, there is a lot to work with for artists in many mediums.