Willow-weaving art by Patrick Dougherty

Combining his carpentry skills with his love for nature, American sculptor and artist Patrick Dougherty has travelled the world installing his fabulous willow-weaving installations

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Over the past decade, Patrick Dougherty has created over 100 very large sinewy willow installations all over the world from Japan to Brazil

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Elemental and organic all Patrick's monumental sculptures are not only super-sized, hitting 25 feet in some cases, but also seem to sit rather comfortably in the landscape as seemingly living writhing entities

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'Dougherty's work alludes to nests, cocoons, hives and lairs built by animals as well as the manmade forms of huts, haystacks, and baskets created by interweaving of branches and twigs together,' says Linda Johnson the author of A Dialogue with Nature

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In a career spanning four continents and three decades, internationally acclaimed environmental artist Patrick Dougherty has created over two hundred majestic sculptures out of nothing more than saplings

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"I think that part of my work's allure is its impermanence, the life cycle that is built into the growth and decay of saplings. My focus has always been the process of building a work and allowing those who pass to enjoy the daily changes or drama of building a sculpture as well as the final product," the sculptor says 

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However, the line between trash and treasure is thin, and the sculptures, like the sticks they are made from, begin to fade after two years.

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"Often the public imagines that a work of art should be made to last, but I believe that a sculpture, like a good flower bed, has its season," Patrick Dougherty says.

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