Earlier today, my great friend and former Madison Square Garden house photographer, Betsy Becker and I headed over to Columbus Circle where artist, Peter Woytuk has two of his sculptures–life size replicas of elephants on display. I’ve been dreaming about centering a photo-shoot around them ever since I first saw them.

Last night I went to the Home Depot, a store I think I’ve only been to once or twice in my entire life to pick up an eight-foot ladder, which is unfortunately the largest ladder they sell in their store, as the elephant is about ten feet high at its lowest point. Miraculously, I was able to get onto and off of the elephant unscathed.

There weren’t any signs on the sculptures that said you couldn’t climb them; nonetheless we did the shoot at 6:45 AM as to not draw a crowd or attract police attention. Read more and view photos below.

I decided to wear Betsey Johnson’s Rose Topiary strapless dress, it’s a gorgeous fuchsia dress, countless rosettes cover the poofy bubble skirt, and ribbing gives the bodice an edgy look. The dress retails for $485 and is available now in black and fuchsia at Betsey Johnson’s website and at her boutiques.

The elephants are just two of the eighteen whimsical and captivating sculptures placed for public view on the Broadway Malls from Columbus Circle to 168th Street that have been on display since October. The Malls are a 5.5 mile-long park that provides a welcome green space from the Upper West Side through Harlem to Washington Heights. The sculptures will be coming down sometime this month.

Peter Woytuk is a well known American sculptor whose work ranges  from the small to the grand in an interplay of convex and concave form, space, color and shadow. Animals are a vehicle for expression and favorites are birds of varying sizes and shapes and voluminous, gracefully composed animals such as bulls and elephants. Some are alone, but many sculptures are compositions with fruit of striking colors, stone and other materials.

Many of the pieces for the New York exhibition Peter created in China and Thailand, where he lives for most of the year, and then were shipped to his studio in Kent, Connecticut. There, the final details are being worked out and the sculptures are being prepared to travel to New York City.