Peggy, who had just been kayaking on Dragon Lake in Quesnel, BC, was immediately attracted to this dragon wood carving in Chetwynd. (Photograph by Peggy Mekemson)
On Monday I provided an introduction to the art of wood carving with a chainsaw in Hope, British Columbia. Today we will see what Chetwynd, BC has to offer. As I mentioned earlier, Chetwynd holds an annual contest in June that attracts wood carvers from around the world. We quickly found that the number and variety of carvings was even greater than we had found in Hope. I was amazed at what could be accomplished in 36 hours. it made me think about the months and even years, sculptures spend working on a block of marble.
I was more entranced by this scary pumpkin scarecrow.
A close up of the head. How would you like to meet up with this guy on a dark night?
The complete sculpture. Like Scarecrow in Oz, he had straw stuffing trying to escape.
A close up of the head on Peggy’s dragon. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson)
Was this crusty gold miner saying “Don’t take my photo”?
A close up of the miner’s face in Chetwynd, BC.
I found the perspective on this bear totem pole interesting.
Deer totem pole.
An eagle lands to feed its chick. (Photograph by Peggy Mekemson)
A bear tries to raid an eagle’s nest. The eagle objects.
The Thinker? (Photograph by Peggy Mekemson)
Another perspective. This ram had quite a set of horns.
A Samurai warrior.
A carved relief on the side of the Chetwynd, BC Visitor Center of St. George slaying the dragon.
It seems appropriate to end this blog on Chetwynd, BC chainsaw wood carving with a moose.
Another photo of the moose.
Next Blog: The busy beavers of the Toad River.
Wandering through Time and Place 
WOW – now these are considerably more impressive!
Scarecrow is my fave 🙂
Incredible Curt! Were these all done with a chainsaw? The craftsmanship is exceptional. The dragon is gorgeous, but I must admit that the Thinker certainly got my attention. Wonderful photos Peggy! ~Terri
Another great set.. Love that Samurai.. I wonder do they have special chainsaw blades.. how do they get such small detail with a regular blade?
I suspect they have special blades. –Curt
WOW! The artistry and craftmanship is absolutely stunning…. I love the dragon, but the scarecrow is just amazing.
That scarecrow was really unique. Imagine meeting him on Halloween.
as the horses were in the Paddock that he wneatd the number 3 horse to win. And sure enough, our lucky little boy won the best odds on the board with the winning horse. I know who I am pairing up with for my exacta bets at the track this season. Oh by the way Dad, Charlie asked this weekend to me and Biz, what time do the Jockeys have to put their clothes on before the race. We told him that was a good question for Pappy, he will probably know.love,annie
Kick the tires and light the fires, problem officially solved!
the 19 years we have been chainsaw cavirng here at the chainsaw cavirng school we have seen lots of people go on to enjoy a new hobby while earning some money as a chainsaw
Thanks for commenting. I’ll check out your chain carving school. Peggy and I were fascinated with what could be accomplished. It is obviously an art form. –Curt
I think that relief carving on the side of the visitors’ center must have been done with more traditional tools than a chainsaw. I’m a fan of the eagle and its chicks, myself. But that crusty old miner does have an attitude I sometimes saw expressed in NoCal, back in the day. Bumper stickers demanded, “Don’t Californicate Oregon”, or “Don’t Let Your Karma Run Over my Dogma”. I really liked “Don’t Send An Adverb to do an Adjective’s Job”.
I’ve been trying to figure out why Chetwynd seems so familiar. Turns out one of my readers is from Nanaimo, and heads into the interior from time to time. He’s mentioned the place. It’s certainly beautiful country.
The totem poles I ran last week were just below Nanaimo. No doubt the relief carving was done with something other than a chainsaw.
I remember the don’t Californicate Oregon campaign. Oregonians still have a similar attitude but half the folks in our area are from California…. including us. I was born in Oregon however… and I have two sets of great-great grandparents buried within 20 miles of where we live. So the old timers aren’t as old timer as me! –Curt
Many beautiful chainsaw wood carvings.
My favorite is the samurai warrior.
If I have my dates straight, The Samurai was last years winner. He is indeed impressive. –Curt