Thomasville has long been famous for it's furniture industry, and is no stranger to wood carving. Called Chair City as homage to the companies that helped the area grow and prosper, a huge chair stands in the center of town. 2010 was their first annual chainsaw sculpting festival and contest. Scheduled to end on the first Saturday in May of every year, running Wednesday through Saturday, mark this chainsaw sculpting event and contest on your calendar.
Chainsaw Carvings
Bears, owls, lighthouses, soaring eagles, the things that can be carved with chainsaws know no limit. To see just a few of the works created, click the pictures below for larger images. More images can be found at Thomasville Tourism. The pictures are just a teaser, this art form really needs to be experienced to be fully enjoyed. Chainsaw sculpture isn't classical art, it's not cold and hard like marble, it has an appealing immediacy and whimsy that's hard to resist. It's noisy, smelly fun.
Watch art being performed by men and women with the most unlikely of tools. Buy original art that you've seen made without the hefty price tag required of preliminary sketches and weeks of painstaking carving plus a gallery markup. If Michelangelo came would he know how to carve with a chainsaw? Probably not.
Chainsaw Wood Carvers
Ten wood carver performers made the trip to Thomasville from several states. Chainsaw wood carving events are few and far between, with only about 50 events worldwide. They brought pieces already carved, carved pieces throughout the event and participated in the quick carve contests. In the quick carving contests, artists made a carving from a log in a maximum of 45 minutes. Carvers were attracted by prizes such as chainsaws, having their hotel rooms paid for, and a split of the auction proceeds with non-profit Thomasville Tourism.
Participating carvers included::
- Tim Klock – 1st place overall, 1st place Thursday quick carve (tie), 1st place masterpiece
- Jeff Penny – 2nd place overall, 1st place Thursday quick carve (tie), 2nd place masterpiece
- Chap Nelson – 3rd place overall, 8th place Thursday quick carve, 3rd place masterpiece (won 1st tiebreaker in 3 way tie)
- Eddy Hoots – 4th place overall, 7th place Thursday quick carve, 3rd place masterpiece (won 2nd tiebreaker in 3 way tie)
- Gordon Cook – 5th place overall
- Randy Everett – 6th place overall, 5th place Thursday quick carve (tie)
- Gini Cook – 3rd place Thursday quick carve, 3rd place Saturday quick carve
- Joe Armstrong – 4th place Thursday quick carve,1st place Saturday quick carve
- Roark Phillips – 5th place Thursday quick carve (tie)
- Thomas Bland – 3rd place masterpiece (3rd in 3 way tie)
Auction of Chainsaw Carving
The auction of completed pieces was a great success. The masterpiece winners were determined by two criteria, the single piece that brought the most at auction, and the artist whose collection brought the most. The public voted with their wallets in support of the carvers and the city of Thomasville.
Event Sponsors
No event can be successful without sponsors, but those who gave support to the first annual Thomasville Tourism, ECHO Chainsaw Sculpting Invitational in Thomasville both gave and got a lot in return. Different levels of sponsorship brought different benefits, but even those who sponsored at the lowest level got their own chainsaw carving for their business. ECHO chainsaws provided prizes, canopies, and had their name on the event for their high level of sponsorship.
Joe's Tractor Sales of Thomasville purchased several carvings now on display in their showroom. Downtown merchants with carvings on display include the T'ville Diner, Best in Show Gallery, Monkeez Brew coffee shop, 12 West Main, and S&K Power Equipment. These are tangible reminders of the fun and what can be accomplished when all participants are involved in something worthwhile.
Mark Scott, director of tourism for Thomasville and the event organizer, put together an event to please all participants. He graciously treated me to lunch and took me around to see the carvings. The success of the event wouldn't have happened without cooperation from all. At a time when the furniture business is shrinking and unemployment is high, Thomasville has a real winner in their chainsaw carving show, competition, and auction. If you can't be there during the event, it's worth a trip to see the sculptures at participating businesses.
I'll see you at the second annual Chainsaw Sculpting Invitational in Thomasville.
Corinne Shibley - Corinne Shibley studied sculpture in art history and created her own sculpture on the way to a B.A. in Studio Art. "There's something ...
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