Joy, then, is water — the first line of a beautiful and refreshing poem that I read recently and it inspired me to think about putting together a “water” post (working on it at present). Then I thought of the engaging lion fountain that we’d seen in Los Angeles, so wonderful it left an impression that’ll always be with me.
Town Plaza, Culver City, California (USA). Photos taken by Nigel in June 2010
The Lion’s Fountain
— by Douglas Olsted Freeman, 2004
Bronze. 8′ high x 8′ wide, surrounded by 40 water jets
I cropped the lion from a photo Nigel took (shown next)
Here’s the larger context. Click on photo to enlarge
Water jet source
Active water jet..
It was something REALLY special for us when we found this gorgeous lion!
Culver City’s online information
Doug Freeman Studio website links:
— The Lion’s Fountain (click on “View Gallery”)
— Video (starts with The Lion’s Fountain and then shows other works.. brilliant!)
Text by Liz and photos by Nigel; Exploring Colour (2019)
— links to online information were found by Nigel
The lion’s facial expression is priceless, Liz. I wouldn’t mind running into a lion with a similarly friendly disposition.
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Ha! Me either.. he’s the loveliest lion ever
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Lovely happy lion 🦁
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Very lovely 🙂
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You’re right about that lion. An entertainer not a maneater 🙂
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Hahaha! My very early schooling was at home (home was a caravan at the time) via Correspondence School. We could request picture books and I got one called The Happy Lion. Have never seen the book in later life but I know I loved it. This fountain lion brought back happy memories of that book 🙂
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I had a Happy Lion book too, I think. In my mind’s eye I have a picture of a Brian Wildsmith lion. Was that it?
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I don’t think so, but I’m really glad you mentioned him. I’ve been doing a quick read and looking at his book covers – they’re awesome!
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I don’t know if he’s still alive. He was an illustrator who wrote the stories too, gorgeous stuff. I had one when I was very small about how the zoo animals got out of their cages. I LOVED that one.
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I noticed he was from Yorkshire but later in life he moved to Grasse, and he’s passed away now. I’ll keep an eye out for his books (I love having a hunt through childrens books from time to time – big kid at heart 🙂
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It’s his animals that are magic. He seems to have done a fair few religious ones that I don’t know.
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Book is available from The Book Depository for about twelve/thirteen bucks … if it’s the same one. Boom boom~!
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BOOM BOOM !! That really does look like the one.. I couldn’t remember anything about it. Well done! Big hugs Basil, what a wonderful surprise 🙂
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I love the whimsical feeling in the lion sculpture! Makes me smile! 😊
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“Whimsical” is a lovely word.. I’m smiling too 🙂
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That really looks like fun – bet kids love it! (And adults too!)
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Everybody.. that’s the real beauty of it I think, that everybody can join in and laugh and enjoy the moment!
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Love your lion, he looks so happy! And the crop is perfect.
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Thank you Tina!
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