Carve out the Art

One summer day, I saw a seven-foot sasquatch ominously standing in the bed of a pick-up driving in front of me, his half-flexed stance and grimacing face giving him a sinister presence. My eyes narrowed on this bigfoot to investigate… and, yep, I was pretty sure it was fake, a massive wood carving in fact! But, for a moment there… Ever since, I’ve been curious about chainsaw carvings, and wood carvers’ works have caught my attention up and down the coast, inland, and at art exhibits. I’ve always said, “I should go see these closer!”

Recently an article passed before me regarding a carved octopus made from a fallen redwood trunk, and I knew I had to go see it. Alas, the original had been sold some time ago, but another, similar work was in progress was at the JMS Wood Sculpture gallery in Gig Harbor Washington along with many other amazing pieces. This next, large octopus piece, also from a fallen redwood trunk, features a historical element preserved within it; a logger’s springboard notch serves as a reminder of those in the past who also worked on this very same trunk. In the JMS showroom, bears, eagles, turtles, octopi, old-man-face-birdhouses (my favorite), and variety of other animals surrounded me. The take-away for this visitor was an appreciation for how art is providing a second, long life to these fallen trees.
 

There at the gallery I learned of a local piece in the city park, a commissioned sculpture that was designed to transform the split trunk of an old cedar, and I absolutely had to go see it next.

At Gig Harbor’s Crescent Creek Park, a park down in the dell of its namesake creek, the sculpture, a towering spiral depiction of Puget Sound sea life, caused me to take a repetitive, circular stroll in identifying, finding, and re-finding the 162ish creatures as they all wind and twist together just like a swirling tide. We all have different take-aways from art, and I have to say that mine was a warm-hearted feeling that while the tree was destined to fall in its condition, the art makes it live on in the imagery of the life that surrounds in Puget Sound.