I Didn’t Know Wood Could Do This (10 Photos)

Wood with a past

A troll napping under an oak in Iowa wears old lodge flooring as fur. A life-size horse is made of branches that washed up on beaches. These ten sculptures give driftwood and reclaimed wood a second life.

More: From Debris to Masterpiece: 10 Driftwood Sculptures

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🐴 “The Eden Horse” — By Heather Jansch in Devon, England, UK 🇬🇧

Every curve of the neck and legs is a branch that washed up on a beach. Heather Jansch (1948–2021) became known for life-size horses made from driftwood. One of them was voted the most popular artwork at the Eden Project in Cornwall and has been known as The Eden Horse ever since. Here it stands in her garden in Olchard, Devon.

💡 Eden Fact: The original driftwood horse at Eden’s entrance has grown so fragile that it went to the foundry to be cast in bronze, so it can be kept.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Eden HorseHeather Jansch · Eden Project, CornwallLife-size driftwood horseStood at Eden’s entrance17 hands (estate)1Eden founder Tim Smit said visitors would name it their favourite work: “we gave the entrance to our kingdom to this horse.”Diehl Gallery2According to the Eden Project, the fragile original is at the foundry being cast in bronze, so that it is “immortalised forever.”Eden Project2008JanDriftwood horses at Eden · Resurgence20082 MayPhoto in Devon · Commons date202419 AugRetired from view · estate202617 OctAt the foundry · Eden pageRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Kieronjansch / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🌳 Marwin — By Thomas Dambo in Clinton, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

Flat on his back under an old oak at Bickelhaupt Arboretum, Marwin keeps his giant feet in the air. His fur is flooring taken from the lodge at Eagle Point Park, his hair is branches collected by Clinton’s city crews, and the structural lumber came from logs milled by the local Sawmill Museum, Eastern Iowa Community Colleges reports.

💡 Troll Fact: Marwin is one of the three brothers in Dambo’s The Tree Thieves, a story built on Clinton’s past as a Mississippi River lumber town. Local partners spell his name Marvin.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsMarvinThomas Dambo · 2026 · Clinton, IowaThe Tree ThievesReclaimed local wood94K+ visitors (EICC)1His fur is old flooring from the Lodge at Eagle Point Park; his hair is branches from the city’s crews.EICC2Quad-City Times photos show Marvin newly finished under his oak on 20 April 2026, ten days before the unveiling.Quad-City Times2025SepArboretum site in the news202614 AprBeing built202620 AprFinished202630 AprUnveiled20261 MayRibbon cutting94K+Sep 2026Visitors in 3 months (organizers)202617 OctStill thereRead the full file →

More: Three Giant Trolls Followed Their Stolen Trees to Iowa (8 Photos)

🔗 Follow Thomas Dambo on Instagram

📷 Image via Eastern Iowa Community Colleges

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🌿 Driftwood Forest Figure — By Debra Bernier of Vancouver Island, Canada 🇨🇦

A small woman seems to grow out of a weathered trunk, with twigs and roots rising above her head. Debra Bernier works with driftwood, clay and shells.

More: 19 Driftwood Sculptures by Debra Bernier

🔗 Follow Debra Bernier on Instagram

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🐉 “Wyvern Dragon” — By James Doran-Webb in Churt, Surrey, UK 🇬🇧

A driftwood dragon spreads its wings on top of a domed garden temple at The Sculpture Park in Churt in this 2017 photo. The park counts it among his highly celebrated works, though the dragon is no longer in the park. British-born James Doran-Webb works from Cebu in the Philippines. He builds a stainless steel frame first, then his team bolts driftwood onto it piece by piece.

💡 Studio Fact: One horse sculpture takes about 1,500 hours to finish on average, Doran-Webb told the Inquirer.

🔗 Visit James Doran-Webb’s website

📷 Photo: Michael Garlick / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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🪵 “Hannes” — By Thomas Dambo at De Schorre, Boom, Belgium 🇧🇪

Hannes sits on the edge of a ruined brick building with a string of beads in his hands; in Dambo’s poem for the series he likes “to put pearls on a string for everyone to see.” He is one of seven trolls Dambo built there in 2019, from reclaimed wood from his workshop and wood found in the park itself, over a frame of new treated wood.

💡 Park Fact: The trolls were a gift from the Tomorrowland festival for its 15th birthday. Dambo sees them slowly returning to nature; a full renovation would be costly and only temporary, so the park works to slow the wear instead.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsHannesThomas Dambo · 2019 · De Schorre, BoomTomorrowland’s 15th birthdayOne of seven trollsReclaimed wood (park)1In Dambo’s poem for the series, Hannes is there “to put pearls on a string for everyone to see”.Thomas Dambo2According to the park, a full renovation is ruled out: Dambo’s idea is that the trolls return to nature in time.De Schorre201913 JunPark introduces the seven2019OctVisitor photos2022JunVisitor blog202521 JanVisitor photo, name sign202512 AugAfter the stage fire: scorch marks in the forest20252 DecPark calls him one of “our trolls”202613 MayPark still counts seven trollsRead the full file →

More: This Is a Troll and His Name Is Hannes

🔗 Follow Thomas Dambo on Instagram

📷 Photo: m.d.w._pictures

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🔥 Phoenix Rising From the Ashes — Hokitika Beach, New Zealand 🇳🇿

Fanned driftwood wings rise from a pile of blackened wood. This phoenix was an entry in the 2020 competition at Driftwood & Sand, a beach art festival on New Zealand’s West Coast that began in 2002 as a community project.

📷 Photo: Jonathan Wilson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🐎 Driftwood Horse — Newport News, Virginia, USA 🇺🇸

Head down as if grazing, this horse is a tangle of sun-bleached driftwood. Photographer Tony Alter saw it at the Port Warwick Art Festival in Newport News in October 2014 and noted that its maker had built many other animals too.

📷 Photo: Tony Alter / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🚂 Driftwood Locomotive — Emeryville Mudflats, California, USA 🇺🇸

A steam engine pieced together from driftwood, tires and an oil drum stands at the edge of San Francisco Bay in this 1977 photo. The Emeryville mudflat sculptures first went up in 1962, built mostly by anonymous amateurs from driftwood and other material found on the spot. The last ones were hauled away in 1997.

💡 History Fact: California College of the Arts describes the mudflats as an art school experiment that grew into decades of installations by local people, many of whom never thought of themselves as artists.

📷 Photo: George Garrigues / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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🦅 Crested Honey Buzzards — By James Doran-Webb at CHIJMES, Singapore 🇸🇬

Two driftwood birds of prey glide over the courtyard at CHIJMES, lit up at night beside the white chapel. Singapore also has Doran-Webb’s largest public work, The Sculpture Park notes: three life-size galloping thoroughbreds at Gardens by the Bay.

📷 Photo: Sgconlaw / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🌊 “Mantle” — By Anne Daniel at Hokitika Beach, New Zealand 🇳🇿

A long driftwood arch spans the gray sand, with dozens of beach stones, each wrapped in knotted string, hanging from it. Anne Daniel’s Mantle was a Judge’s Choice winner at Driftwood & Sand in 2023.

📷 Photo: Mike Dickison / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)