Valley verve: Creating modern landmarks
This is a rocky area. They’re in our gardens and under our fields. Once uncovered, they are left sitting in a pile until they can be hauled away.
Before the rocks are taken, hold one in your hand and imagine how old it is, where it has been and how it was formed, and if you have thought about keeping just a few for some unknown reason, consider stacking them, marking your territory with a cairn.
Last Saturday at Liberty Lake’s Farmers’ Market, Idaho artists Randy Raak and Dale Young meticulously washed and carved away at rocks; cumbersome to some but landmarks to others. “Stone carvings have been done for thousands of years and they’re still around. That’s appealing to me,” said Young.
The two artists are collaborating on “Five Cairns at Half Moon,” which will be permanently placed at Half Moon Park in Liberty Lake. Cairns are artificial piles of stone used as natural landmarks. They are ancient and have meant many things to many people.
In Liberty Lake, the cairns will represent the river, wind, rain and sun. The formations were facilitated by Greenstone Corp. and purchased by the city of Liberty Lake. “Public art is a key component in creating a sense of place, a sense of community,” said Mike Terrell from Greenstone. One of his corporation’s goals is to identify where public art would be appropriate and to integrate it into the everyday components of a community.
The artists for this project were selected through a fluke meeting at Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene.
Raak and Young have previously collaborated on works of art and they work well together. Young grew up in Post Falls and his professional history has always involved the elements of nature and the use of his hands as a crab fisherman, a logger and a farmer. At 16, he made a mental note to one day do something with those large rocks that sat in fields.
About 10 years ago, Young began chipping away at granite. Mentored by Hope, Idaho, artist Mark Heisel, Young began fine tuning his skills. His favorite work to date is titled “Infinite Woman.” It is displayed in Coeur d’Alene and is a primal mix of abstract and realism.
Raak has been an artist since kindergarten. “I could always draw better than anyone else,” he said. He studied fine art in Minnesota where he grew up and has developed his skills in many mediums. He works as a full-time sculptor at Sunshine Minting while continuing his artistic exploration. “I firmly believe that visual arts define a culture,” he said.
Both artists are avid outdoorsmen and incorporate their appreciation of nature into their work. “Five Cairns at Half Moon” represents the artists as well as the city of Liberty Lake and Greenstone developers. At completion, the carved rocks will be placed atop native boulders and affixed to a steel rod mounted in concrete in the round-about in Half Moon Park. There they will remain for years to come even if by chance they fall.