Show Time in Kennewick this weekend.

Chainsaw carving demo and general artistic mayhem are happening Saturday and Sunday at Tri-Tech on the corner of Kellogg and Metaline streets in Kennewick, WA.  Chainsaw carving will be 'ongoing' throughout the weekend from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.  Carvings and sculptures will be offered for sale at the "Big Top" {see photo} as well as indoors.

This "chair" will be on display. 

Admission to the juried art show is $3 which gives you access to all the competition pieces, a chance to vote for Peoples Choice award, and all the vendors selling books, tools and materials for wood carving and pyrography. I think there will be a workshop or two as well but don't quote me on that...

I'll have lots of bears as well as turtles, cowboy boots and other door stops for sale. My biggest piece is a huge bench featuring mirrored bears priced at $3,000.  I accept Cash, credit cards, gold, silver, guns, or ammo by the case for payment.

Battery Powered Chainsaw?

Yep. Thanks to Lithium-Ion battery technology, we have entered the age of battery powered chainsaws.

My first thought, when hearing of this new technological leap, was "Why?" Gasoline powered saws deliver plenty of power and can be refueled in only a minute, and they're highly portable. Hydraulic powered saws offer power, never run out of power, are less loud than gasoline saws and they emit no exhaust fumes...

What advantage could a battery offer?  Hard to imagine...

Well,,, today I received a loaner Stihl MSA 160 C-BQ STIHL Lithium-Ion Chain Saw from my local Stihl dealer.  Over the next 2 weeks I intend test, use, learn about and report on this new piece of equipment.  I'll be carving logs into art with battery power!  :-)

Video, thanks to a GoPro Hero, will be part of my review / report so expect a few links to YouTube in my next few posts.

Good bye holidays!

Great Horned Owl / English Walnut

The holiday season has FINALLY past and I can now get back to carving for fun and inventory. Holiday commission work is great for bringing in money but commissions have their down sides.

For starters, when I'm carving what the customer want's, I am not carving what I want to carve. Poor me, you're thinking? Well, an artist needs to be satisfied by the work in order to be creative and carving to order is rarely satisfying. That is unless the customer brings their own log and says, "Carve whatever you want to." Like that's going to happen!

But that's exactly what happened with this English Walnut... I was feeling an owl as I approached the log but was mid-way through the carving before I decided it was a horned owl. I doubt the species mattered to the customer because they loved the piece :-)

Bluto 2

With all of the commissions done, it's time to have some fun!  We have a mix breed bulldog with a blue merle color pattern.  Yesterday was his day to be carved.  He's short, thick, has a really big head and lots of spots.  I choose a log as stocky as "Bluto" himself for this "Bluto 2" sculpture :-)

 This may be a little more of an exaggeration than a true likeness but I expect it to be decorating our house or yard for a long time.

But business is business so the next bit of fun had to be something to sell.  A beaver sounds fun...

The Buck Toothed Beaver

Today I set-up a taller than typical sycamore log to carve this little beaver.  He's 38" tall, including the draped down tail, and his teeth are big enough to say they're buck teeth. ;-)  What really made this fellow fun to carve is the sign he is standing above which reads, "WELCOME To Our Dam House"

I suppose that's an appropriate greeting from a beaver.

WELCOME To Our Dam House

Gone Fishing.

Occasionally an artist gets to discover something new in his work.  This week I was carving a bear on all 4 legs so was working down towards his feet a little at a time.  As you can see below, I never made it to the feet.  Instead I found the water's surface of a fishing stream and determined it was easier to carve water than it  was to carve legs, toes and claws.  And I needed a reason for my bear to be in the water,,, a large salmon.

This piece is about 38 inches wide, carved in red pine, and finished with burning, paint and oil.  It was also customer supplied wood so it's SOLD.  Customer hasn't seen it yet so I hope they like it :)

Need a Chainsaw Artist?

Would you like to find a Chainsaw Artist in your part of the world?
I have listed hundreds of chainsaw carvers on my World Map of Chainsaw Artists at Google Maps.  The below banner contains links to my map page detailing how to create your own links to this resource {click left side}, to the Google Maps display with 2 pages of listings {click Google Maps text on banner}, and a KML file which will open in Google Earth {must have Earth installed on your computer} allowing you to 'fly' around the world visiting these artists {click Google Earth text on the banner}.

If you are a Chainsaw Sculptor/Artist/Carver and would like to be added to the map, first check to see if I've already included you.  Then, if necessary, leave a comment here with your website address so I can include you and your carving business.

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Why is it always a bear?

I've heard that "Why is it always a bear?" question from Lookers.  Never from Buyers...

Why to chainsaw artist carve bears?  Because bears pay the bills!  Bears account for no less than 50% of sales. The mantra is, "carve a bear, carve what I want, carve a bear, carve something artsy, carve a bear, carve a dragon, carve a bear, etc..."  All those bears will sell before that one dragon!  But everything sells eventually.

Recognizing this, I have focused on improving the look of my bear carvings.  This first photo is of a bear I carved earlier this year.  Not bad and quite sell-able  but left a lot of room for improvement.  The following 2 photos are of the exact same carving after I reworked it using some newly learned techniques.  Not a lot of wood had to be removed to achieve a much more realistic, and eye pleasing, product.


The last photo (below) is of another bear carved with these improvements.  In addition, rather than simply burning to darken the fur, color was added after the burn to enhance the over all look.

Pets vs My Marketing Plan

The much loved pet is a very important segment of any artist's market yet one which I have all but ignored.  Lately I've been thinking about all of those dog and cat lovers who have browsed my carvings of bears and eagles only to leave empty handed... What have I been thinking?

People love their pets so I should selling carvings of pets!

This week I took one step closer to patching this hole in my marketing boat {plan} by carving my first house cat.  While it was easier than I'd expected, it did not come completely natural since I'm a dog-person.  It's well understood by sculptors that horse-people carve the best horses, fishermen carve the best fish, and so on.

So what if cats don't fly out of my saw?  I should be carving them anyway!  Carving dogs is second nature to me but I haven't been carving enough of them :(  And while I'm yelling at myself,,, how about those WSU Cougars & UW Huskies?  I live between these rival colleges yet have not carved either of their mascots.

Still, no matter what I carve for inventory, 50% of my sales are bears.