WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – There’s a buzz in Burrville this week, as chainsaw carving artists from around the country take their saws to wood.
Nearly a dozen chainsaw artists are working at Burrville Power Equipment on Route 12 this week.
Chainsaw art is what it sounds like – carving wood with a chainsaw.
Douglas Ryan, one of the artists, said he uses a small saw to draw an image of what he wants to carve.
“Then once you get to be where you need to be in your head you start with the big saw,” he explained to a reporter.
Ryan does a little of everything with his saw – carving birds to bears to Bigfoot.
He got into chainsaw carving “by luck.”
“I saw a guy in front of a grocery store and I thought, I can do that. He had carved a big seven foot alligator, and I really, really was interested in it. So, I went and bought a chainsaw and started to hack apart innocent trees.”
That ‘I can do that’ spirit is contagious.
Scott Simmons, owner of Burrville Power Equipment, says the chain saw and wood are his pen and paper.
Simmons says although he was never great at drawing in high school, he always had a love for art.
“I see a picture and I know that’s what I want to make. I can take that and transition that right into a piece of wood.”
He turned his passion into a profession.
“I have a horrible chainsaw addiction. So this is a perfect fit for what I had and what I did in selling chainsaws, and working on that, and outdoor power equipment. It was such a good fit for us.”
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