Self Made Man - Bobbie Carlyle

This is my favorite piece of public art in downtown Batavia – not that there’s a lot to choose from!  This is a sculpture by Bobbie Carlyle, installed on River Street in 1996.  It is, as can be seen, a larger than life-size bronze carving himself out of stone – “Bobbie Carlyle’s vision of Self Made Man is a man carving himself out of stone, carving his character, carving his future” – Bobby Carlyle Sculpure website.  It is difficult to get a good photograph, the background is quite busy.  On this snowy day I was able to get a total grey background, which I changed to black to bring out his form.

As for public sculpture in Batavia, the new Wilson Street bridge will eventually have four pieces installed.  One is up already, very nice but also difficult to photograph.  “Sun-Beams” by Kathryn Breisch, another Batavia Mainstreet Calender Photo Contest winner, is about the best I’ve seen.  I look forward to seeing the other three sculptures whenever they are installed!

Cottonwood Madonna

I happened across this carving in an old cottonwood tree while photographing in Albuquerque’s Old Town in October of 2006.  As it is behind the church and facing away from the road (alley) I was quite surprised to find it – I was photographing the rear of the church, turned around and there she was!  The following is what I could find out about her online:

healing from inside
the heart of a cottonwood
nuestra señora

The story goes that in 1970 a parishioner of the 300-year-old San Felipe de Neri, Albuquerque’s oldest Catholic parish, carved the image of the Virgin de Guadalupe into the open wound of an ancient dying cottonwood. The Virgin saved the tree’s life.  (Haiku and text from Red Ravine, “Virgin Cottonwood Haiku“)

Behind the San Felipe de Neri Church, there is a treasure that very few locals even know about. Some call her the Lady of the Tree, others the Cottonwood Madonna. In the parking lot behind the church, a tall cottonwood stands near the wall. Embedded in the tree’s trunk, along its natural indentations, someone carved the figure of a Madonna. (from About.com, “A Walk Through Old Town“)