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Friday, June 26, 2009

Finding the Art in the Wood..............

We recently had the opportunity to be involved in some very fun art.

We had two huge pine trees on a lot where we are renovating a building for a future business.
They were leaning towards some power lines, so the power company wanted to cut a lot of the branches away.
Rather than hacking the trees so that they looked totally ugly by having half the branches gone, we decided to cut them into stumps and see if we could have them carved into statues instead.

Here is the journey!:
Here are the trees marked for cutting:

And here is the worker cutting the tree branches (and eventually the trees) down:




Leaving the stumps, ready for art to happen!:




Here is Chad, our woodcarving artist, starting on the first statue:






A closeup of how he used a CHAINSAW to make beautiful art!:






Hmmmm...any guesses what this will become????:





Yes! It is an eagle on the top:









The eagle will be holding a fish and the lower half will have a little bear peeking out from the stump. Chad had the vision of what would work....




And the Second stump HAD to be this:
A bear!:






Here is the eagle holding the fish, along with the bear peeking out. This only took him a day to do!! (With a chainsaw!) It was amazing to watch him do this!:





Here is a closeup of the side of the fish. Done with a chainsaw!:








Here is the finished bear. He is handsome, no???











The front view of our bear:











And the finished eagle, holding the fish and the little bear peeking out
from the stump below the eagle!:












A closer view of the detail:


We were so impressed by our chainsaw artist's capability to look at two ugly stumps and to carve them out into two pieces of art. Everyone that sees them, stops their car and asks us who did them. The little town we live in loves these, as they are right across the street from a restaurant and on the main street when you first turn into town on the way to the lake.
I will always admire the artist's talent.

42 comments:

Joy Tilton said...

These are AMAZING! I love the whimsical nature of the carvings and the stumps are now a work of art instead of an eyesore. Great idea!
joy c.

Lynn Kellan said...

Joan, What a great idea! These statues are awesome!!

Going Like Sixty said...

I love this! I wish more people would do it.
Good for you guys.

Ziggy Stardust said...

That was awesome. Wow it is amazing what they can do. I can't even trim my bushes without them looking stupid.

Anne

Sue said...

Wow, I would have been just sick about cutting down those trees, but you made the best (and I do mean BEST) out of a bad situation.
They look fantastic. I envy people with talent like that.

Darla said...

I have always admired this type of art. Good job!!

The Retired One said...

Joycee: We thought so too!

Lynn: The bear is my favorite. Thanks.

Going Like Sixty: They were expensive, but well worth it. Now the whole town benefits, because it is on the main road coming into town.

Chicamom: Me neither. It amazed me that someone could look at a stump and carve away the non-art, and leave the art. My mind doesn't work that way.

Sue: Me too. And the artist was a student at Michigan Tech. University..he is only 20 years old!~ His whole family carves with chainsaws! Amazing!

Darla: He did a great job, yes, I agree. I was amazed on how fast he was too.

SquirrelQueen said...

It's sad that the trees had to be cut but the resulting art is fantastic.

I love the bear, very whimsical. The eagle is great. It's hard to imagine this being done with a chainsaw.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Judy

A Brit in Tennessee said...

My heart was heavy to see thoses beautiful big trees being cut down, but then what a marvelous way to salvage the stump !
I have always loved wood carvings, and have several of the forrest spirit wood carvings, that is some talented artist, it takes an awful lot of work, as you already know ...
I love your home, do you have pics on your blog of it ?

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! I am so jealous!!! These are fantastic!!! I can't even use pinking shears, let alone run a chainsaw and be artistic with it! I bet the artist is pretty pleased with himself too! This is SOOO cool!

Kearsie said...

That is THE coolest idea EVER.

J.J. in L.A. said...

I'm lovin' the bear! lol!

grannyann said...

What beautiful and humorous statues!! Was it expensive to have that done? I especially love the bear.

Rick (Ratty) said...

I love wood carvings like this. The bear is exceptional. I like the way the other is like a little totem pole. I would love to have something like these.

Bernie said...

Not only did you make something beautiful for you and your husband but sharing it with the town and it's visitors was a wonderful thing to do....You never cease to amaze me my friend....:) Hugs

Sharkbytes said...

Great stuff! I keep forgetting to check out your site. I'll try to fix that. They are really awesome.

rainfield61 said...

Yours will be the landmark of the town. So imaginative both from you and the woodcarving artist.

Carole@Fowl Visions said...

Beautiful! It is amazing the work he did with a chainsaw.

Unknown said...

It's really amazing how chain saw artists can use such a crude tool to create such beautiful art.

Michele said...

Beautiful pieces... sad to see the WHOLE tree go down but the art results are absolutely amazing. There was a storm that rumbled through here and destroyed some beautiful large heritage trees and some nice work was done on them as well.

The Retired One said...

SquirrelQueen: Yes. I admire ANY artist..but one that can look at a tree stump and carve something like THIS with a chainsaw??? I am still in awe.

Brit: I will have to do a blogpost to show our log home...I had some pictures of it earlier (just the great room) but I will have to take more. I have had others ask me for photos of it...so stay tuned.

Cathy: The artist did like the results. His whole family does this...brothers, and dad.....He is only 20. Can you imagine how good he will be in another 5-10 years???

Kearsie: thanks! The townspeople really like it too.

JJ: the bear is my favorite too!

Grannyann: Yes, it was expensive. But all art is, no?

Ratty: the guy travels downstate, so if you seriously want one done, let me know! :-)

Bernie: The pleasure was all ours!

Sharkbytes: Forgetting to check my site???? (isn't that some kind of sin?) ha Put it in your list of favorites and it will pop up everyday for you to read!

Rainfield: Thanks. It was such fun watching him carve them too!

Carole: It was pretty amazing watching him in person too!

Gaston: It was amazing. I don't understand how he can do that!

The Retired One said...

Michelle: That was great of your town to take a storm's damage and make something nice out of it too!

Teresa said...

hello,
I just stopped by and was completely blown away, by that amazing creativity! Stumps Alive!

Annette said...

I would've loved to have had such an artist visit my place! We just removed a tall stump from a tree that had fallen in a storm a year ago. Bernie told me to stop by and see your carvings. I'm so glad I did!

The Retired One said...

Teresa: Yes, he certainly did make the stumps come alive!

Annette: Thanks so much for stopping by my blog (and thanks to Bernie too...she is such a sweetheart, isn't she?). I hope you joined on to my blog as a "Follower"...would love to have you stopping by on a regular basis! I will stop by your blog today too!

Shelley said...

This is amazing - such great wood work!! That bear is my favorite - what a way to dress up your yard. LOVE THIS!!

Feedsack Fantasy said...

Simply awesome! Life given back to a beautiful tree ... TTFN ~ Marydon

A Brit in Tennessee said...

I did a little post this evening, something you might like ;)
I can't wait for the log house pictures....oh my, that's my dream house.

Karina said...

purely amazing. it must have been taken so many hours but the final outcome is fantastic.

The Retired One said...

Shellmo: He did a fantastic job..I love looking at them every day...they are across the street from our yard (on some property we own).

Feedsack: You are new to my blog! I am so glad you stopped by. Did you join on as a Follower? that would be great. I will stop by your blog to check it out today! Thanks for the nice comment on the statues!

Brit: I have you listed on my daily favorite blogs to read, so I will check out the post you mentioned, thanks! We love our house, too...we have only been in it for 5 years this coming March.

Karina: thanks so much. We think they are pretty amazing too. I have such respect for this guy's talent!!

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Joan (am I right?), thank you for this story. One thing is to see a final result, but it's amazing to see the process itself! How many trees just disappear every day and how can an artist save them from disappearance and let them live and make us smile!
I don't know if you ever won a lottery and I'm sorry I can't give you a reward, but maybe it brings at least a smile to your face to know that you are the reader of MySecretGarden number 100! I was wondering who will it be and I am honored that it is you! I love your blog!

Wanda..... said...

I've seen photos of sculptures like this, but was amazed how quickly these were created...I love the texture of the bear!

The Retired One said...

Tatyana: Wow, I am your 100th! You deserve 100 readers...your pictures and blog are great. I am honored to be your 100th!

betty said...

That's a beautiful idea! Way to go!

The Retired One said...

Betty: Thanks! You are new to my blog, no? Welcome aboard! If you haven't already, join on as a Follower!

LatteJunkie said...

Very cool...

dreamwalker said...

This is a brilliant idea! Makes me yearn for country living...sucks being in the city.

Joanie said...

I have a little something for you on my blog!

The Retired One said...

Cyndi: Welcome aboard! You are new to my blog, no? Please sign on as a Follower, if you haven't already...it is great to have you reading my blog.Thanks!

Dreamwalker: I love to visit a city, but I love our little community around our lake.

Joanie: Thanks, Sweetie! I will check it out later today!!!

L. D. said...

Yes, when I saw your blog, I was hooked by the car show pictures. Then this tree sculptor is great, and I like the flower pictures too. I have learned so much from the people that I have joined. My blog will be diverse as I have way too many themes in my life.

Sara said...

WOW! What beautiful art!!! I have always wanted one of those carvings.

The Retired One said...

Wanda: Thanks. The bear is my favorite too!

L.D.: Thanks for joining on to my blog and what wonderful compliments too! I love a lot of things and have picked up many new hobbies since my retirement last year. Photography is my top one right now, so you will be seeing a lot of pictures of nature and other things here. So glad you joined on!

Sara: They did turn out neat, didn't they? Glad you liked them!

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I retired in June 2008 and started my blog in November 2008. I worked at several jobs as a Registered Nurse prior to retirement. I LOVE being retired! Blogging has offered me a whole new venue to start writing again and to share new hobbies such as gardening, birdwatching and sharing my nature photography. If you like my blog, PLEASE click on "follow this blog". Having a lot of followers reading my blog gives me incentive to continue to do photography and to continue to write. I also LOVE comments, so I encourage you to leave me a comment after you read my posts. Thanks everyone, for taking the time to read me!!

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