Ernest Wahr, Trpasličí skála / Dwarfs rock

 pictures courtesy of Pavel Konečný

Czech Switzerland, also known as Bohemian Switzerland, is a touristic area in the north west of the Czech Republic, north of Prague,  characterized by a a lot of natural beauty, in particular rocks of sandstone.

A specific touristic spot is the art environment named Trpasličí Skála, an ensemble of sculptures of dwarfs carved into the rocks in a rocky area high above the road between Jetřichovice and Rynartice.

This art environment originated in the 19th century, but the available sources on the internet give different information about who created the site and when it was started. Some sources mention that Eduard Vater was the creator, starting the work either in the early 1830s or in 1870, other sources say it was Ernest Wahr, who began in the early 1830's.

Following Andrea Svitáková who in her doctoral dissertation about Stanislav Rolinek (see documentation) sideways mentions the Dwarfs Rock, in all probability a native stone mason named Ernest Wahr in 1833 created the rock sculptures, while a local farmer named Eduard Vater around 1870 has been working with the rock, probably taking care of maintenance and repairing the path that leads to the site, a project that later was completed by his son Ernst, who died in 1882.

In making his creation, Wahr may have been inspired by a local legend concerning an old poor woman collecting wood in the forest, who got into trouble and was rescued by a number of dwarfs popping up out of nowhere.

The art environment includes a number of separate sculptures in relief of dwarfs in various poses, such as reading a book, crawling up on hands and feet or just sitting. A relation with the fairytale of Snow White and the seven dwarfs seems also obvious.

For decades the site was only known locally. Not much attention was paid to it and the sculptures became covered with moss.

In the 1980s, especially because of increasing tourism, the significance of the site was recognized. In 1989 the sculptures have been cleaned and repainted and the access stage of the site has been improved.

This art environment has now also been included in a list of protected monuments.

Documentation
* Andrea Svitáková, Stanislav Rolinek a sochartstvi v prirode (Bakalářská diplomová prác. Masarykova univerzita. Filozofická fakulta), Brno, 2010.The relevant text is on p. 40 and footnote 146

* On the website Tales of the Czech Forests by photographer Vladimir Pomertzeff a beautiful series of photos and an extensive review of the work of Ernest Wahr (look for Vater)

* Documentation of the site as a cultural monument

* More pictures by Pavel Konečný on Facebook

* The internet has a variety of sites about this art environment, which in general refer to the creations from a touristic point of view, for example vybezek and Turistika Ceské Syýcarsko

Ernest Wahr
Dwarfs rock
along the road from Jetřichovice to Rynartice, not far from Rynartice
Děčín district, Ústí nad Labem region, Czech Republic
the spot is marked with a small sign on a pole along the road
streetview

Paul and Réjane Aucordonnier, Jardin décoré / Decorated garden

pictures courtesy of Sophie et Apolline Lepetit

Verdille is a rather small community with less then 400 inhabitants in the Charente area, France. In this village there is an art environment, which so far has received very little attention on the internet, although it is an interesting site with a large and varied number of creations.

Life and works

This site was created in the garden of their home by Paul Aucordonnier (1934-1997) and his wife Réjane (b. 1934), who both were employed in agriculture. 

It all probably started when in the mid-1960s they built a well in their garden and felt inspired to continue making all kinds of constructions and decorations to beautify their garden. During walks in the area the couple collected stones and other materials, with which they went to work at the weekend.

The garden includes a variety of replicas of famous places and buildings, such as the cave and the Notre Dame in Lourdes, the cathedral in Chartres and the Mont Saint Michel.

Due to the frequent use of pebbles for finishing the exterior of the buildings, the site has been given a specific, realistic appearance.

Besides the replicas of famous buildings, the garden also includes smaller structures, sometimes decorated with sculptures with a classic character or with types derived from fairy tales, as in the above illustrations.

The couple has been active in constructing and maintaining this art environment for about thirty years.

Paul Aucordonnier died in 1997. Currently (2018) Réjane is in her early 80s and she is no longer able to take care of the site. It is not known if there are initiatives to save this art environment for the future.

Documentation
* The only source on the internet about this art environment is Sophie Lepetit's weblog, with articles on May 7, 2018 and May 8, 2018.

Paul and Réjane Aucordonnier
Jardin décoré
16140 Verdille, Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
can be seen from the road

Raimo Flink, Keksintöjen puutarha / Garden of inventions

picture from website Keksinnöt

Located in a protected area near Lempäälä, Finland, this fairly recently created art environment is characterized by an approach that includes both creative expression and research into new, sustainable lifestyle and methods of production.

Life and works

Born in 1940 in Pukkila, Raimo Flink after his primary education, went to the Technical School in Helsinki. Graduated in 1965, he had various jobs and then went to work for many years at the telecommunications company in Tampere, not far from Pukkila.

In the many years he had this job Flink wrote various manuals on technical subjects. Due to a restructuring of the company in 1993 he lost this job, after which as an independent entrepreneur he started several projects.

In 1998, for example, he set up an environmental science park connected to the Tampere University of Applied Sciences, that became a beloved destination, visited by many school classes and their teachers

overview (2003) of the park (from ekoinfo website)

Due to a heart attack he had in 2003, Flink left this project in 2005, to focus on writing books, both novels and non-fiction in the field of ecological lifestyle and ways of production .

Over the years Raimo had developed interest in ecology, which he expressed by conducting research into practical tools and materials, but also by making a variety of inventions in this field.

Some of those inventions are very suitable for use in gardening. In this regard Raimo points in particular to an installation for the purity of domestic waste water and to niksibetoni, as it is called in Finnish, a specific mixture of water, cement powder and mechanical shredded textiles.

Raimo's 2014 book about gardening

In the garden of Raiko's summer house in Lempäälä various items demonstrate the practical application of niksibetoni as regards paths, bridges or edges of flower beds. In 2014, to share his experiences with the items he had invented and had used in the garden, he published a book entitled Keksintöjen Puutarha (Garden of inventions).

Apart from practical items Raimo also made some special creations from niksibetoni he installed in the garden, which in this way was transformed into an art environment.

cactus garden (from ekoinfo website)

The cactus garden is an ensemble inspired by a journey which had conducted Raimo to Mexico. It consists of a collection of different cacti, performed in niksibetoni.  One of these cacti, partly visible on the right site of above photo, is about 5,5 meters high.

picture courtesy of Sophie Lepetit 

Completed in January 2017, the mammoth of some 4.5 meters high is a most impressive creation.

Constructing this homage to an extinct animal took up a couple of months and hundreds of bags of niksibetoni, but it was not necessary to use molds or reinforcement. To do the casting, sheet metal was used. The sculpture is hollow inside and there is a bench to sit on for those who enter through a ladder.

picture from website Keksinnöt

The high rising palm tree, left on above picture, was completed summer 2017. It is a tribute to people who have died of cancer and with this sculpture Raimo wants to warn people who are engaged in making constructions to use safe and non-toxic materials. A special feature of this palm tree is it's ability to blow out vapor.

this picture and the next two from Facebook

In the course of 2020, Flink created a sculpture of a donkey with a height of 1.75 meters, as shown in the photo above.

The photo below shows this donkey lined up next to the mammoth, an image that shows very clearly the huge difference in size of both creations.

 

In the summers of 2021 and 2022, Flink worked on a replica of a Dinosaurus, a creation of an animal from other times with a strikingly long neck.

Apart from the above mentioned creations, there are other, smaller sculptures, some depicting animals or human characters. and there is also a construction which is related to the cultivation of strawberries.

A recent addition

Recently, a flying lizard, 7 meters wide, has been added to the collection, as is shown below (picture from Facebook, August 2024).

Documentation

* Flink's website Eko Info
* Article on website ITE-taide
* A series of photos (2018) by Sophie Lepetit in an album on Facebook

Video
* Video (June 2018, subtitled in English)  by Maaseudun Sivistysliito (Association for Rural Education) (YouTube, 8'30")

first published July 2018, last revised August 2024

Raimo Flink

Garden of inventions

Lempäälä, Pirkanmaa, Central and Western Finland, Finland

to visit the site consult website Ekoinfo