A 14-Foot Steel Troll Now Lives Under Palmer Lake’s Pedestrian Bridge

There are certain opportunities an artist simply cannot ignore. “A troll under a bridge is, admittedly, a hard opportunity to resist,” metal artist Jodie Bliss says.

Bliss spent roughly two years bringing the character to life, from early drawings and structural planning through fabrication and installation. The Palmer Lake sculpture was unveiled this past June, giving the community a new landmark that is equal parts imposing, playful and full of small details.

If standing upright, the troll would measure approximately 13 to 14 feet tall. Primarily made of steel, the sculpture combines traditional blacksmithing techniques with contemporary metal fabrication, including forging, welding, hand-forming and texturing.

For Bliss, the project was never simply about putting a generic troll beneath a bridge.

“I wanted to create a character that felt specific to Palmer Lake,” she says. “Something unexpected and humorous, but also beautifully made and genuinely connected to the place.”

Palmer Lake’s landscape and outdoor culture became part of the sculpture itself. Paddles, kayaks and other details are incorporated throughout the piece, including a tiny frog paddling a kayak.

“I love that aspect of public art,” Bliss says. “A monumental sculpture can make an impression from 100 feet away, but I also want someone standing six inches from it to discover something they hadn’t seen before.”

That attention to detail is part of Bliss’ broader approach to sculpture. She has worked in metal for 24 years and holds a master’s in sculpture as well as bachelor’s degrees in fine art sculpture and creative writing. She began as a solo metalworker and eventually built Bliss Studio into a custom metalworking and fabrication business with nine employees at its largest.

That experience gave her the technical foundation to take large ideas from drawings through engineering, fabrication, transport and installation. Today, Bliss Studio is intentionally smaller, allowing Bliss to focus primarily on sculpture and public art.

Her process begins with detailed drawings, but she leaves room for the sculpture to evolve along the way. The troll’s beard, for example, became more animated during fabrication.

“That’s part of my process,” Bliss says. “I want enough planning to execute a major project successfully, and enough freedom to let the sculpture improve while I’m making it.”

The project was made possible through Awake the Lake, community support and a matching grant from the Bee Vradenburg Foundation.

For Bliss, the community’s response has been one of the most rewarding parts of the project. During the unveiling, she began hearing people refer to the sculpture as “our troll.”

Bliss hopes the troll becomes more than an unusual piece of public art. She envisions it becoming part of Palmer Lake’s identity, something residents can point to, visitors can photograph and children can remember. She says, “The best public art becomes part of a place’s identity.”

Meanwhile, Bliss is developing a new exhibition for 2027 and beyond, while also exploring painting, writing and video. After 24 years of building the skills and infrastructure to work on a monumental scale, Bliss is looking to take a more focused approach.

“I’m not trying to make Bliss Studio bigger,” she says. “I’m making it more concentrated.”

And for Palmer Lake, that concentration has produced something decidedly larger than life: a 14-foot steel troll beneath a bridge, complete with a dramatic beard and a growing place in the community.