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In Eagan Friday morning, crop artist Stan Herd was putting the finishing touches on his latest huge work. It's a 1.2-acre rendition of Vincent van Gogh's painting "Olive Trees."

 
"It never looks like I want it to," he said. "I always know it could be much better. But I'm fairly satisfied with it."

In Eagan, Van Gogh's 'Olive Trees' is a planting, not a painting

 
The original painting is part of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts collection. For the past six months, Herd has been at work on a parcel of land on the edge of the Thomson Reuters campus, planting, weeding and watering to bring the painting to life. It's part of the institute's centennial celebrations.

 
"I bit off a lot here, to try to pull this off," Herd said. "A few of the plants were eaten by deer, and a few were blown over. But that's the dance of nature."

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Crop artist Stan Herd has re-created van Gogh's "Olive Trees" on a 1.2-acre canvas of dirt.

Photos: Van Gogh comes to life in Eagan field

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