‘Our troll’: Palmer Lake’s newest landmark is already becoming part of the community

MONUMENT, Colo. (KRDO) — When blacksmith and sculptor Jodie Bliss set out to create a giant metal troll for Palmer Lake, she hoped it would eventually feel like it belonged to the town—not to her.

Now that the sculpture has been installed beneath the Palmer Lake Pedestrian Bridge, Bliss says that's exactly what's happening.

"My favorite thing is hearing people call him 'our troll,'" Bliss told KRDO13. "That's exactly what I hope for with public art — that it stops feeling like something I made and starts feeling like something that belongs to the community."

Bliss said the response since the unveiling has been "absolutely incredible."

"The turnout for the unveiling was beyond anything I imagined, and it was so heartwarming to see the community come together with so much excitement," she said.

Photo courtesy: Nick Walker

Because Palmer Lake is a small town, Bliss says she regularly hears from people who have visited the sculpture.

"Everywhere I go someone tells me they visited him, shows me a picture, or tells me their kids' reactions," she said. "Every time I walk by and see people taking photos, discovering the little details, and making their own memories with him, it's pretty magical."

For Bliss, watching people interact with the finished piece is the most rewarding part of the process.

"I spend so much time...in my studio creating these pieces, imagining how people might experience them someday — so seeing that actually happen is incredibly special," she said.

She especially enjoys watching visitors slow down to explore the sculpture.

"I love seeing kids search for all the animals, people looking closely at the textures, and everyone creating their own relationship with him," Bliss said. "The sculpture is finished when I install it, but it really comes alive when the community starts interacting with it."

The troll was designed specifically for Palmer Lake. Bliss said she wanted him to look as though he had always belonged beneath the bridge.

Drawing from her Swedish heritage, Bliss found inspiration in Scandinavian folklore, where trolls are closely tied to nature.

"I was especially inspired by Swedish folklore; since I'm Swedish myself, it was really fun to dive deeper into those stories and traditions and connect with my roots a little," she said. "Swedish and Scandinavian trolls are nature beings — inseparable from the wild landscapes around them."

While the sculpture closely resembles her original sketch, Bliss said it evolved throughout the fabrication process.

"There is this transformation that happens along the way where the sculpture starts to reveal its own personality," she said. "The fire, the hammer marks, the textures, and all of those little decisions made throughout the process are what bring it to life."

Visitors who take a closer look may notice one of Bliss' favorite additions: a tiny frog paddling a kayak.

"He was a last-minute addition and he just makes me ridiculously happy," she said.

Looking ahead, Bliss said she's continuing to focus on creating public art that invites community participation. Her next major project will be a large installation in Denver's Montbello neighborhood, where residents will help create parts of the sculpture through free storytelling, welding and blacksmithing workshops.

"The troll reminded me exactly why I love doing this," Bliss said. "Art has this amazing ability to spark imagination, create community, and add a little bit of magic to everyday places. I'm excited to keep chasing projects that do exactly that."

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