Chainsaw Carvings
One of the artists exhibiting at the Miles B. Carpenter Outdoor Folk Art Festival was James Gray from Boykins, Virginia. Much of his work is monolithic in nature, carved from the trunks of trees. Initially, a chainsaw is used to shape the wood. As can be seen in the photographs including Gray, much of his work is quite large (and heavy). Other work is smaller and often technological.
James Gray, a native of
Boykins, Virginia in Southampton County, began his career in 1977 teaching
agricultural education in Suffolk City Public Schools. After teaching agriculture for six years, he
continued teaching with the Department of Corrections in Capron, VA. Gray retired in 2009 after teaching welding
for eight years and adult basic education for eighteen years. Working part-time, he now is an adult basic
education teacher at Sussex II Correction Center in Waverly, VA.
Always skillful working with
his hands, Gray related that he never developed his full potential because he
was lacking skills in using hand tools.
He began sculpting wood in 2010 using an electric chainsaw. The
World was his first sculpture and was a stimulus for further interest in
carving with chainsaws.
To make Spiral Log, Gray removed the bark with a hammer and chisel with the
log standing vertically. Starting from
the bottom, he wrapped a rope in a spiral around the log and traced it to form
an outline. The log was then laid
horizontally, sanded, and a chainsaw was used to remove wood. The finished project was similarly treated
with preservative and varnish was applied.
It is seven feet tall.
Small images of carvings and other objects
Inspiration for Happy Bear came from an image of a similar bear carved by another artist and seen on the internet. Gray developed his own techniques and used auto body filler for the bear’s tongue and marbles for its eyes. He carved the bear beginning at the top and worked to the bottom with a chainsaw. A blowtorch was used to give the fur its dark brown coloring. The bear was carved beginning from top to bottom with the chainsaw. The completed sculpture was treated with Cabot Wood Preservative and coats of varnish were added after the preservative had dried.
Hear My Cry
evolved as Gray began cutting on a log with a chainsaw. First, he carved a hollow in one side of the
log; then, seeing this was empty space, he decided to add a foot. After that, a mouth with teeth was
added. The mouth accurately depicts
thirty-two teeth. As with Happy Bear, the tongue is made with auto
body filler. Next, Gray added one
ear, one eye, and one hand because he had begun with only one foot.
An image on the internet also inspired The Whole World in His Hand. The hands and globe were carved separately with a spring on each side joining them. He used sweetgum wood for the globe and cedar for the hands. To construct the hands, Gray used a chainsaw, circular saw, and jigsaw. Fingernails were made of auto body filler.
The hourglass is made from two glass liter soda bottles joined together with a piece of walnut. Gray used a bit the same diameter as the necks of the bottles to drill the area for the bottles to join. To regulate the flow of sand, he left one-fourth inch of space between each hole drilled; then, a center hole one-eight inch was drilled through holes of the neck. Fine sand blown onto a highway from fields was collected. The timing of the hourglass is ninety minutes. The outer frame is made of white oak. All wood has a polyurethane finish.
