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Leo Sepa is a Canadian-Estonian visual artist and blacksmith who works in both recycled and new materials. Leo Sepa Leo’s foray into metal art began some thirty years ago. Though the urge to create with fire and metal remained strong throughout the years, Leo’s talents were relegated to weekends and holidays at his Haliburton cottage until he retired. In 1997, he and is wife Hilary fulfilled a longtime dream by establishing Iron Jive Studio in Moore Falls, Haliburton. Leo is a participant of The Haliburton County Studio Tour, where art lovers watch him demonstrate forging techniques and visit his home gallery. Many of Leo’s ideas are conceived and captured on film during outings of rural Ontario, especially Haliburton. He is continually developing and exploring new ideas, which are reflected, in his artwork. Leo’s paternal grandfather was a blacksmith in Estonia (in fact, the name “Sepa” is derived from the Estonian “Raud Sepp” which translates as iron smith). Like his grandfather, Leo uses traditional blacksmith techniques. But he also employs the use of an oxyacetylene torch, a Mig welder, a plasma cutter and various other modern tools. He works in both recycled and new materials where he sometimes uses natural patinas creating a wide variety of pieces. Though the elder Sepa was a traditional blacksmith, forging tools and farm implements, Leo figures a little of his grandfather’s craft rubbed off on him. Leo was born in 1947 in Sweden after his Estonian parents fled to the nearby country to escape Soviet repression after the USSR invaded the Baltic. He came to Canada when he was three. < Back to Artists

Redwing Frond by Darlene Bolahood is the tallest piece in the Haliburton Sculpture Forest. Redwing Frond Darlene Bolahood Materials: Steel and Acrylic panels Description: 14' feet high, curved metal spine pointing north, painted acrylic panels attached to top half of spine Location: Haliburton Sculpture Forest; Western end of the South Trail Installation Date: August, 2003 Number on Map: 9 Go to Gallery Vision for Sculpture: The sculpture’s axis, from base to tip, is perfectly aligned: the compass needle pointing to the true north. The sun’s rays, at this latitude, find the lenses of the coloured panels, casting shadows that change with the skies. The streaks of pigment opaque on the transparent surfaces along with the overlapping edges of the panels create kaleidoscopic forms within these shapes. The form is explosive red. Like transparent marble veined with golds, silvers and black, the leaf/feather/louver-paged panels reflect the flight of birds, growth of the forests and books of the art of learning. Catching the wind, changing frequencies, perhaps it will even posses a voice where it stands. Imagine the red of this leaf against the white of the snow, the red of this leaf opposing the brilliance of the new spring greens, softening into the aging dust of summer, and then disappearing into the famous autumn colours of the Haliburton Highlands. The leaf for growth, the feather: mark of freedom and flight, the pages of the book: the freedom in self-knowledge… which marks the only absolute measure of success in the uncovering and unleashing of an artist’s soul. I pay tribute to the land and the rock, sun, sky and wind and the school standing within that space. < Back to Sculptures

Picea glauca < Back White Spruce Ojibwe Name: gaawaandag Scientific Name: Picea glauca Significance in Ojibwe Cultures: Made spruce saplings into snowshoe frames How to Identify the Leaves: White spruces normally grow to 24 meters tall and their trunks can reach up to 60 cm in diameter. The tree's needles are about 2 cm long and are bluish green or green in colour, with a whitish powdery, waxy layer. Its bark is normally grey-brown in colour with a flaky texture. Cones are approximately about 5 to 7 centimetres long and are light brown in colour. Sources: Translation: https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/gaawaandag-na Image: https://www.ontario.ca/page/white-spruce Significance in Ojibwe Cultures: https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/gaawaandag-na How to Identify Tree: https://www.ontario.ca/page/white-spruce < Back Next >

Explore our sculpture collection in the A-Z gallery. Top Sculpture Gallery Explore by title A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Conspiracy of Ravens A Atmo-sphere A W in the W Beaver B C to C C Curled Figures Current Dreaming Stones D Embracing Eos E Evolution Fire and Ice: A Really Big Shoe F Flying Debris Gelert G Guardians of the Forest H Harmony Anchor Homesteaders Kennisis: Horse and Rider K L Lissome #5 Moose Scraps M Mother Earth Musical Inspiration Pan P Redwing Frond R Shadow Caster S Sleep of the Huntress Sound Vessel: Forest Spiral Ascent Spirit of the Wild Storied Moons Anchor Sun Bench Terminus T To Cut or Not to Cut Together We Explore the Wild Unity Gate U Visionary V Voyage Wind Devish Anchor A Conspiracy of Ravens See the About Page . Show More Atmo-sphere See the About Page . Show More A Walk in the Woods See the About Page . Show More Beaver See the About Page . Show More C to C See the About Page . Show More Curled Figures See the About Page . Show More Current See the About Page . Show More Das Buch XXIII See the About Page. Depth See the About Page. IMG_6459 IMG_6458 Double Take See the About Page . Double Take 1 Dreaming Stones See the About Page . Show More Embracing Eos See the About Page . Show More Evolution See the About Page . Show More Fire and Ice: A Really Big Shoe See the About Page . Show More Fire Bench See the About Page. Show More Flying Debris See the About Page . Show More Forest Screen Bench See the About Page. Show More Gelert See the About Page . Show More Guardians of the Forest See the About Page . Show More Harmony See the About Page. Show More Homesteaders See the About Page . Show More I see a wish! See the About Page. Show More Kennisis: Horse and Rider See the About Page . Show More Lissome #5 See the About Page . Matriarchy See the About Page. Show More Moose Scraps See the About Page . Show More Mother Earth See the About Page. Show More Musical Inspiration See the About Page . Show More Pan See the About Page . Show More Passage See the About Page . Show More Redwing Frond See the About Page . Show More Shadow Caster See the About Page . Show More Sleep of the Huntress See the About Page . Show More Sound Vessel: Forest See the About Page . Show More Spiral Ascent See the About Page . Show More Spirit of the Wild See the About Page . Storied Moons See the About Page . Show More Sun Bench See the About Page. Terminus See the About Page . Show More To Cut or Not to Cut See the About Page . Show More Together We Achieve the Extraordinary See the About Page. Show More Together We Explore the Wild... See the About Page . Show More Unity Gate See the About Page . Show More Visionary: A Tribute to Sir Sandford Fleming See the About Page . Show More Voyage See the About Page. Show More Wind Dervish See the About Page. Show More Das Buch XXII Fire Bench Forest Screen bench I see a wish Matriarchy Together We Achieve the Extraordinary I Passage Depth Double Take W Back to Top

Passage Gord Peteran Name of Sculpture: Passage Material: Red Cedar Description: Two doorframes face each other with a long dining room table sitting between them. Two oars attached to both table rest in the ground. Installation Date: June 16, 2021 Number on Map: 38 Go to Gallery Artist Statement: My artwork is fuelled by the historical decorative arts. Unlike most artists I’m not looking for “new”, but rather the very, very old. I’m interested in testing the boundaries of what we know and trust. Disrupting the iconography of culture slightly, either by altering their context or proximity, can destabilize assumptions and suggest ideas that seem both correct and wrong in the same moment. Doorways are thresholds of our buildings, and also represent the threshold of our anxieties. Two doorway openings placed apart to imply a room, stand as both sentinels and facilitators of flow and passage. A dining table, . . . with oars, placed between these frames suggests both the safe space of home and references to this rural location. A table implies gathering, and in many ways represents the core of the family. Are there directional implications to a dining table? Is it in any way mobile? Who propels the ideas discussed at dinner? Can they stagnate or change course? The emblems and events of summer at a lake cannot be underestimated. They become imbedded in our psyche for life. Perhaps because they are filled with moments of joy, of discovery, learning, curiosity and camaraderie, . . . (the conditions necessary for creativity). The new conditions our world now faces provide potential opportunities. This artwork’s references are vast, from global warming and migratory populations, to the intimate summer ponderings of a child. The swinging doors once hanging from the doorframes have long since disappeared with only vague remnants of each left visible. Visitors can freely pass into, through, and out of this scene, setting in motion their own transformative art moment. < Back to Sculptures

A dance event in three parts. < All Events Dance Rx³: Re-emergence, Re-engagement, & Re-connection A dance event in three parts. Tuesday, September 13, 2022 Saturday, October 22, 2022 Address: Haliburton Sculpture Forest, College Drive, Haliburton, ON, Canada About Dance RX3 A dance event in three parts: Re-emergence and Re-engagement in September 2021 and Re-connection in October 2022. This project was made possible via a collaboration between Dance Happens Here Haliburton (DH³), Throwdown Collective, and the Haliburton Sculpture Forest. From September 13-18 visitors had the chance to see dance artists Brian Solomon, Noriko Yamamoto, Phylicia Browne-Charles, Madeline Friel and Throwdown Collective (Mairéad Filgate, Brodie Stevenson and Irvin Chow) as they spent a week in solo creative dance residency in the Haliburton Sculpture Forest. These selected artists were invited to take an existing work or idea—perhaps halted by the pandemic—and to re-engage, re-configure, and adapt it to the outdoor environment, exploring it through a new lens. In Winter of 2022 (date TBD) the dancers and choreographers will get reconvene for a live event do discuss their work, sit in for a Q&A and possibly perform their work live (depending on pandemic restrictions). Toronto-based Throwdown Collective is an award-winning contemporary dance company that supports the collaborative creative pursuits of founders Zhenya Cerneacov, Mairéad Filgate and Brodie Stevenson. The Collective’s first three site-specific works, originally commissioned for Toronto's Dusk Dances Festival, went on to tour throughout Canada and beyond, including the 85th Anniversary Celebration of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, MA and Fall for Dance North at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. Their first full-length evening of stage works, presented by DanceWorks (TO) received two Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Choreography and a total of eight nominations. Throwdown Collective enjoys a long-standing relationship with Dance Happens Here Haliburton and the Haliburton community. They created two full-length works as artists-in-residence at the Sculpture Forest (2018, 2019), and a short film commissioned by DH3 during the COVID-19 lockdown. They are thrilled to be returning to Haliburton for another exciting project. Learn More About: The Dancers Throwdown Collective DH3 September 13-18, 2021 Re-emergence We asked the Throwdown Collective to invite four dancers/choreographers, Brian Solomon, Anishinaabe dance artist, Noriko Yamamoto, Japanese-Canadian mime/dance artist and two emerging dance artists Phylicia Browne-Charles and Madeline Friel to spend a week in solo creative dance residency in the Haliburton Sculpture Forest in September 2021. These selected artists have been invited to take an existing work or idea—perhaps halted by the pandemic—and to re-engage, re-configure, and adapt it to the outdoor environment, exploring it through a new lens. Coming a year and a half after most creative rehearsals and performances were halted, this creative time in Haliburton will offer artists an open week of personal reflection, re-emergence into creative life post-pandemic, and a gentle entry back into artistic social exchange. September 13-18, 2021 Re-engagement The dance artists will reside in Haliburton with seven days to think, create, and experiment, inspired by the beautiful forest surroundings, the changing colour of the leaves and the sculptures nestled along the trails. Community members and visitors are invited to wander through the Sculpture Forest and observe the artists in their process. The Sculpture Forest attracts a culturally diverse group of visitors of all ages from the GTA and throughout the region. It is also a favourite place to walk for local residents, within walking distance of three local schools and adjacent to the Haliburton School of Art + Design. A casual meet and greet for artists and community members will be organized at the end of the week, as well as informal events for participating artists to gather, socialize, and exchange ideas. The objective of the week is to offer artists a supportive and nurturing space and opportunity to re-ignite their creativity and spark artistic exchange after a tumultuous time. The focus is on process with no expectation of a final product. Throughout the week the process will be documented on film including short interviews with participating artists. October 22, 2022 Re-connection This film footage has been edited into a creative montage and will be screened at a culminating live event in Haliburton in Fall 2022. The participating artists are returning to Haliburton for the screening, to perform their work before a live audience and to participate in a artists talkback about their experience with re-emergence, re-engagement and re-connection! Watch the video here. Thank you to all our sponsors! This event is funded by the Goverment of Canada Photo Gallery: < Previous Next >

Angus Sullivan < Back Originally Published On: July 18, 2017 Originally Published By: Haliburton Echo Wind Dervish Written By: Angus Sullivan Work created by John McKinnon in 2017. There have been a number of new additions to the Haliburton Sculpture Forest this summer. As part of the celebration of Canada, Ontario, and Dysart’s 150, four artists, from around the world and across the country, were invited to Haliburton to take part in the 2017 Sculpture Symposium. Each sculptor was charged with creating a new piece for the Sculpture Forest out of a large block of limestone based on the theme “Carved on the Canadian Shield.” John McKinnon, one of four sculptors, created “Wind Dervish”. For John, trips across the Canadian Shield conjure up images of stone, wind, and timelessness. Over thousands of years, the stone that never seems to change is picked up, microscopic by microscopic layer and carried off by the wind. The wind, which shows itself in the things it moves and shapes, is an expression of time. John wanted this piece to think outside of time. Thousands of years have been compressed into a moment, and the layer of stone has risen up and is dancing like a Dervish in the wind. All four sculptors began with the same stone and the same task, but each came up with a unique and creative vision for their sculptures. Come to the Grand Opening of “Carved on the Canadian Shield” on Tuesday, July 25th at 5:00 – 6:00 at the Sculpture Forest for a reception, dedication and audio presentations by the artists about the new sculptures. For a guided walk through Haliburton’s history along the Head Lake Trail to the Grand Opening, meet at 4:00 pm at the Rails End Gallery, 23 York Street, Haliburton. Return transportation will be provided. The Haliburton Sculpture Forest is located in Glebe Park on 297 College Drive. It is open dawn to dusk with free guided tours in July and August on Tuesdays, 10:00 – 11:30 am, and on Wednesdays at 12:10 – 12:50pm. Meet at the information kiosk next to the parking lot at Fleming College. You can use the Sculpture Forest app (download PocketSights and search for Haliburton) or visit www.haliburtonsculptureforest.ca to learn more about the sculptures. < Previous Article Next Article >

Tsuda canadensis < Back Hemlock Ojibwe Name: gaagaagiwanzhiki Scientific Name: Tsuda canadensis Significance in Ojibwe Cultures: The bark is used as a stain for all woodenware. In the Great Lakes region there is lots of heavy metal toxicity in the soil which accumulates in plants and animals. The mixture of tanins and resins in the stain becomes absorbent and absorb the heavy metals in food. How to Identify the Leaves: "Its shape is conical, with a wide trunk that tapers into a thin top. Skinny flexible branches grow straight out from the trunk and then droop at the ends. The eastern hemlock’s bark is scaly when the tree is young and cracks deeply as the tree gets older. Its needles are 1 to 2 centimetres long and are shiny green on top and paler underneath. The cones of the eastern hemlock are oval shaped, and are 12 to 20 millimetres long. In the late fall and winter, the seeds fall out of the cones and onto the ground." Sources: Image: https://www.ontario.ca/page/eastern-hemlock How to Identify Tree: https://www.ontario.ca/page/eastern-hemlock < Back Next >

Jake Mol is a Canadian visual artist and water colour painter. Jake Mol Website: tamarackstudios.com Jake Mol first received public interest across North America in 1964 with a published portrait of J.F. Kennedy. Since going public in 1969 he had received many awards in juried shows, and by 2015 participated in over 90 solo/duo shows and numerous group shows. Jake was an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour, a signature member of Toronto Watercolour Society, a charter member of the Vodka Painters of Canada and a member or associate member of numerous North American art societies. He was a respected and sought after painter, instructor and juror. He taught at the Haliburton School of the Arts for many years. Three of his larger than life size charcoal portraits of 1880's Indian Chief's "Joseph", "Santanta" and "Little Raven" are displayed in the Crazy Horse Museum in South Dakota. Jake loved the outdoors, the Canadian Shield and worldwide scenes can be found in many of his on- location paintings. Jake's art work, mostly in transparent watercolour since 1975, started to pioneer with the use of a special GoldenVarnish for paper works, which eliminates the use of glass as protection, on over one thousand watercolour paintings since 1997. Several of these have been exposed continuously in outdoor sculptures for many years in the Canadian climate. He pioneered the use of a board called Dura Plast, light weight and sturdy, which makes the varnished painting immune to mould and ultra violet light. This method is now slowly being accepted and used by watercolour artists of note across the world. In addition to his long career as a painter, Jake created a series of whimsical sculptures made with reclaimed materials and old farm implements. His work “The Homesteaders” , which he donated to the Haliburton Sculpture Forest, brings together his work as a sculptor and a painter. Jake’s work can be found in many private and corporate collections in North and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Jake passed away in 2018 at 83 years old, surrounded by his family. "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a preserved body, but rather to skid out, having had love and joy with a partner, family, friends, and associates; experiencing good and bad, learning, loving, painting, discovering, detecting, travelling, enjoying scenery, harvesting, fishing, until physically worn out, while remembering the good life, and wishing those left behind the best that future will allow them." - Jake Mol < Back to Artists

Primitive, organic shape, reminiscent of a bird's skull Depth Artist: Don Frost Name of Sculpture: Depth Material: Fiberglass and composites finished with graphite and prismatic paint. Height: 1.5 metres Description: Primitive, organic shape, reminiscent of a bird's skull Installation Date: 2022 Number on Map: 39 Go to Gallery About the Work I had a lot of fun making this piece during the COVID-19 lockdowns. It was a real escape from the world and just evolved into this primitive, organic shape. I live beside a bike trail and this piece brought in many people off the path to see what I was working on. The mount is also unusual for me, going up on a diagonal which gives the piece some extra movement. The finish is graphite, top coated in a prismatic gold to magenta paint. The piece is made from fibreglass and composites and is designed to withstand weather extremely well. About the Artist Peterborough born Don Frost had his future path laid out for him by winning first prize in a city wide art exposition at age six in grade one. The following year at age seven, Don had a group showing at the Peterborough Public Library. Public school had its usual trials and tribulations and it was not until grade 10 that Don discovered that he was colour blind to all but the primary colours. At this point Don’s life took a right turn and sculpture was all that he focused on. Don teamed up with a friend in grade 11 who became his art agent and they enjoyed considerable success in the Peterborough area. After high school Don took some time off to do his art and apprentice as a mechanic for a year. In 1973-74 he attended Sheridan Art College followed by a decision to become a professional sculptor having just received a major commission for a large 15' tall sculpture for a new mall being built in Peterborough, Ontario. This was followed by the creation of the largest sculpture in Canada in 1983 by winning a competition for an indoor work for the Michael Starr Building in Oshawa, Ontario. Always seeking new outlets for art Don acquired an art agent in Ottawa which led to an introduction to a patron who kept Don busy creating more than 40 sculptures in a period of twenty years. Don’s work internationally was recently a commission for four large works for a garden in Club Medjulis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Previously to this in an expansive design project by the late King Hussein for a 1.6 km wall of huge relief panels commemorating the history of Jordan, Don’s work on six of these panels was accepted by King Abdullah. Experiencing greater notoriety for the global uniqueness of his art, Don was presented with awards from Peterborough County and commemorated in the Walk of Fame. Presently Don has art representatives across the United States and Canada. < Back to Sculptures

Aaron Galbraith is a local Haliburton resident and landscaper extraordinaire. Aaron Galbraith Contact: galbraithaaron@gmail.com Aaron Galbraith has been either living or vacationing in the Haliburton region his entire life. He spent many summers living at his grandfathers cottage in the small community of West Guilford, before moving to Haliburton at the age of 7. Aaron has remained in the Haliburton Highlands, except for a brief stint of living in Toronto to go to school. He holds a degree from Humber College in Landscape Design and Horticulture. For over 14 years, Galbraith has been doing landscape work in the Haliburton area, and has a passion for creating unique landscapes using all materials, though he specializes in natural stone work. Aaron got his start in stonework at Don and Carole Finn's home, where he worked their gardens. < Back to Artists

Contact the Haliburton Sculpture Forest about the Downtown Sculpture Exhibition. Email Us Highland Street Haliburton, ON K0M 1S0 info@haliburtonsculptureforest.ca Tel: (705) 457-3555 Thanks! Message sent. Send