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Bear sculptures in front of Moose Jaw home carry sentimental significance

Ongoing project by local artist Karen Watson adds beauty — and a conversation piece — to neighbourhood around 1438 Hastings Street
Tree carving
Local artist Karen Watson works on the bear cub sculpture as momma bear looks on at 1438 Hastings Street.
If you’ve visited the neighbourhood around 1438 Hastings Street any time in the last little while, odds are you’ve come across an interesting scene.

A finished tree carving of a brown bear rearing up on its hind legs, looking toward another tree a few feet away. And if you happened to come across the site at the right time, you’d also find renowned local artist Karen Watson plying her trade, carving two baby bears into what was once a 60-foot tall evergreen.

The ongoing project is the brainchild of homeowners Sharon and Don Williams and is more than just a bit of neighbourhood beautification. In fact, there’s a very specific plan around the carvings, one designed as a tribute to their children.

Let’s begin with the ongoing carving.

The tree was a sapling no bigger than a twig when it was gifted to Don during a Saskatchewan land surveyors convention in 1986. It grew into the aforementioned giant in the ensuing 35 years.

Sharon was two months due from having her firstborn son and it was decided the tree would be dedicated to him.

The second tree — or momma bear tree — was planted in 1989 for their second child, who passed away as a baby, and later became their second son's tree when he was born in 1991.

Of course, trees being trees, sometimes things get a little dicey as they get taller.

“We noticed they were leaning a bit and we talked about taking them down so nothing bad happened,” explained Sharon. “I hated to get rid of them completely because they meant so much to us, so I contacted Karen and told her about how we had planted them for our kids and she loved the story and said she’d loved to do it.”

Watson’s work speaks for itself. Her carvings — the most prominent of which can be found in Crescent Park — are products of chainsaws and dremel tools and feature impressively intricate designs.

She put a plan together for the two trees and came up with an interesting twist — turn one into a momma bear and the other into a tree with two bear cubs climbing on it, representative of their two sons.

And from there, Watson went to work, carving the momma bear first. That part of the project took about a week — a lot of it under an umbrella in the hot summer sun — and drew all sorts of attention from the neighbours right off the hop.

“That’s one of the fun things about doing this, just the people that come by and say ‘hi’ and the stories that I hear while I’m working on this, just talking to everyone who stops to visit,” Watson said during a short break from the project on Thursday.

Needless to say, the Williams have been impressed with what they’ve seen so far.

“Oh, she’s just so talented,” gushed Sharon. “We didn’t even know what she was going to do at first and she just goes with the wood… she’s just amazing and so talented and does such great work.”

When everything is said and done, the project will carry lifelong significance for the family, right down to choosing the bears themselves.

“I wanted bears because our granddaughter is three years old and I had a picture of her hugging a bear in B.C. on a trip, and then myself when I was little in Waskesiu,” Sharon explained. “So it just struck a chord and now I say when I look out my kitchen window it’s a bear hug for my heart.”

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