Monday, April 7, 2014

Newmarket Trail Marker

 Gookooko'oo(g)i Owl

According to an Objibway elder, owls signify wisdom and  foresight, and are keepers of sacred knowledge.

Eyes by artist Donald Chretien, of the band Nipissing First Nation

This is one of 10 unique kilometre trail markers in the Town of Newmarket.

 Inspired by the environment

Finding inspiration in nature, faith and spirituality, Jim Menken is the chainsaw carver.

Closeup of owl's eye

The markers track a hiker's journey as he/she progresses along the trail.

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

36 comments:

Revrunner said...

So that owl spying my movements from that tree branch is really just watching out for my welfare. Nice. I like that.

cieldequimper said...

What a wonderful Ojibwe treasure!

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh that is a beautiful trail marker Donald Chretien is truly a gifted carver. Great shots. Hug B

Pamela Gordon said...

That is really neat. At first I thought the eyes were 'burned' into the wood until I saw the close up. Very nice artwork.

Darla said...

I like owl images and this one is terrific. How great for the people walking the trail.

Darla

William Kendall said...

Wow! That is incredible work!

MadSnapper said...

true talent and i love owls, real or wooden.. used to have a collection of them years ago..

Roan said...

Impressive sculpture. Nice decorative eyes.

Penelope Notes said...

This is such a lovely sculpture of an owl that has eyes only for other owls. A smaller version of the circular artifact would make a nice pendant for a necklace.

orchid0324 said...

Dearest EG CameraGirl;
What an excellent woodwork♡♡♡ Japanese people love owls as its name sounds like "luck" in Japanese.
Just in cae, I'll paste my post about owl. It is the link page (Etymology)from the home page.

Hope you will Have a wonderful new week♪♪♪

Sending you Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

orchid0324 said...

Haha, I forgot to paste p;)

http://etymologypage.blogspot.jp/search/label/Owl.%20fukuro%20%20symbol%20of%20Good%20Fortune

So sorry, silly me(^^;)

Icy BC said...

Fantastic marker, and wonderful carving!

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

What wonderful markers to have along the trail!

TexWisGirl said...

i loved the carving, but the use of another owl for eyes is quite clever!

Stephanie said...

Really nice sculpture to help you along the way.

Karen said...

How wonderful!

Judy said...

I like that a lot!

Small City Scenes said...

Beautiful---I love Native work. The Coastal tribes from Washington up through British Columbia also do beautiful work. Thanks for the info . MB

RedPat said...

It's wonderful, EG!

Lowell said...

Owls are wonderful and fascinating and so mysterious! We had a couple in a big oak tree in our back yard once.

This must be chainsaw sculpture, right? Very well done and those eyes are great!

Lisa Gordon said...

I cannot even begin to imagine the work that went into carving this. Just phenomenal.

Linda W. said...

Such unusual (but very cool) trail markers.

Judy said...

What a neat marker. He did a wonderful job carving it.

Randy said...

Great looking carving. Nice marker.

Sylvia K said...

Oh, I love it!! Such a wonderful carving!! Perfect! You got terrific captures, too!!

Indrani said...

Very beautifully sculpted work. Interesting to know details about this.

Gail Dixon said...

What a creative way to mark the trails. Beautiful sculptures!

Jim said...

Cool.

Michelle said...

Pretty cool

Anonymous said...

What a great carving.

Photo Cache said...

beautiful wood carving. i believe that owls are full of wisdom.

Judy said...

I love the image of the owl's eye!!! Like nothing I have ever seen before!

Fun60 said...

What a great way to mark a trail.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

An unusual and tres 'wise' way to mark a trail EG :)

Unknown said...

Beautifully carved and the owl eyes are cool too. Definitely a treasure to be appreciated.

kayerj said...

I love it :)

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.