The beautifully carved garden muses have graced the same corner of the Arts in the Park festival for about as long as the show has been running (19 years this year!) And they will be back this year on July 12 and 13.

About the artists: Ron lives and works in Belfast, Maine. Using chainsaw, chisel and grinder, Ron has made a name for himself sculpting faces in old barn beams, stumps, and logs. A tour of the town and the surrounding area gives much evidence of his labor, with many pieces standing along public ways and in favored spots in private gardens. One of Cowan’s pieces can be found in the city harbor, a seven figure sculpture that slowly disappears beneath the Atlantic tide each day. The artist spent three months placing the pieces in the old cribbing remains of a ship building pier as part of Belfast’s annual Arts in the Park event. Titled “The Long Breath,” the attraction was so popular the city purchased the pieces from Cowan at the end of the summer. Another of his pieces, “Antonio,” was used in several scenes of the Mel Gibson movie “Man Without a Face.” You can find Ron’s work across the U.S., as well as Mexico, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, and Canada.

Ryan grew up watching his father play with chisels and chainsaw and by the time he graduated high school, he was hooked. He has now been creating faces for almost 20 years. Ryan brings his own style to the work and most people say they tell the difference between the art of father and son. Ryan has also experimented with sundials, bird baths, bird feeders, bookends, and planters. Living in Hampden, Maine with his wife and two small children, he builds and maintains the GardenFaces Web site, Facebook and Twitter pages, and continues to push the limits of his imagination and creativity