Tuesday, October 27, 2015

A story in which Sybil meets a "rock star" ...

A few weeks back while driving up the Bedford Highway I noticed something odd out on a piece of re-claimed land in the harbour.  Actually it wasn't ONE "something odd"; it was a whole lot of "something odds".

Saturday I set out to find out what the odd things were; and I wasn't disappointed.



They're inukshuks.  NO.  Wait.  Ms. Wiki says that one of them is an inukshuk but many of them are "inuksuit".  There's your new factoid for the day.   Inuksuit.  You're welcome.

Perhaps if you're not Canadian you're not acquainted with the term "inukshuk"   (ĭ-no͝ok′sho͝ok).  Inuksuit are monuments made of natural stones that are used by the Inuit for communication and survival.  The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is "Someone was here" or "You are on the right path.

However folk all over the World seem to make them and they pop up in some pretty unexpected places.

In 2012 when my brother Darrell and I travelled to the remote island of Delos, in Greece, and climbed a big ruin-strewn hill to cast some of my parents ashes to the wind, we were met by a circle of inuksuit.



Chances are you've encountered them in your travels too.  


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And here I was in on a rocky piece of infill on the Bedford Basin marvelling at the biggest collection of inuksuit ... oh gosh ... I can't get used to saying the RIGHT word.  I WANT to say "the biggest collection of frikkin' inukshuks" I'd ever seen in my life.


The MacKay Bridge in the distance.
I wandered around checking them out.


Of course the dogs were with me.  

See the Timmies cup ?

In the distance I noticed a gentleman picking up rocks and apparently fixing up one of the inukshuks.



I hustled over and quickly learned that he had created them; all of them.

Let's call him NLM.  NLM told me that he had been creating these pieces for 5 years and in fact his first creation wasn't of stone but was a Christmas Tree decorated with Tim Hortons cups.

He didn't put the beer bottle there.  Another admirer must have added it.


 NLM always brings a cup of "Timmies" coffee with him, so he then takes the used cups and works them into his various pieces.


This one is 14 feet high !



Isn't it amazing that one person did all this just for the sheer joy of it.  

12 comments:

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    1. Really remarkable. If you're ever in the area Debra, check them out.

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  2. It is amazing! And I'll bet NLM felt rather flattered that you showed so much interest in his creations too. :)

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    1. I do think he was pleased. I took quite a few more pics that I have sent to him.

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  3. It's wonderful when people create art out of natural materials. NLM's work is marvelous! Thanks for returning to investigate and sharing your discovery.

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    1. Barbara, not sure what's going on as I thought I'd replied to this before ... sigh ... I was just back there today with a friend and he's created yet another huge one. They ARE amazing.

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  4. Hello again Sybil, I tried to comment on this post before but it did not go through. I love those natural sculptures, tumulus, cairns or whatever you call them. I have seen such sculptures on top of a mountain pass but never as big and high as these one. What an artist NLM is ! Thanks for the great pictures.

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    1. If it's any comfort to you, I had trouble commenting here too. Well isn't that a pain in the arse. You see Inukshuks everywhere here too.

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  5. Thanks for taking me here today. The inuksuit (now I know the correct plural) are amazing. Will definitely bring my grandkids
    Jacqui

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  6. Very cool! Towards the end of summer/early fall, someone was creating lots of inukshuks at Hirtle's Beach. And in Ottawa, there's an artist who who does stone balancing on the Ottawa River. I think you'd like his work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7cPRkhXavc

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    1. Oh the patience required to balance those round rocks Kelly ! I still haven't made it to Hirtle's Beach. I often feel compelled to stack a couple of rocks just to say "I was here" ...

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Thanks for stopping by. I really do love to read your comments.