Fw: A.Word.A.Day--topiary

I thought the members of this list might be interested in this bit of
information.
Linda Wallpe, Cincinnati

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Wordsmith <wsmith@wordsmith.org>
To: linguaphile@wordsmith.org
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 00:04:42 -0500
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--topiary
topiary (TOE-pee-er-ee) adjective

   Of or characterized by the clipping or trimming of live shrubs or
trees
   into decorative shapes, as of animals.

topiary noun

   1. Topiary work or art.

   2. A topiary garden.

[Latin topiarius, from topia, ornamental gardening, from Greek topia, pl.
of
topion, field, diminutive of topos, place.]
 
   "Well, the question is what is the role of topiary in animal life?
   Because topiary is both animal art and plant art."
   A Tour of Animal Art and Architecture in New York,
   All Things Considered (NPR), 22 Jan 1994.
 
Imagine using the earth as a canvas, clippers as the brushes, and trees
as
the paint and what you get is topiary. While the alphabet, animals, and
other shapes are often used to form topiaries, in Columbus Ohio a whole
painting ("Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by the
French
painter Georges Pierre Seurat) has been brought alive as a half-acre
topiary.

The topiary:

http://www.artsednet.getty.edu/ArtsEdNet/Images/Ecology/Lankford/topiary.
html

The painting:

http://hyperion.advanced.org/17142/chef-doeuvre/sunday-afternoon.htm

This week's theme features more words about trees.                   -Anu
 
.........................................................................
..
The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of
animals 
as they now look on the murder of men. -Leonardo da Vinci
 
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Pronunciation:
http://www.wordsmith.org/words/topiary.wav 
http://www.wordsmith.org/words/topiary.ram 


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