Cutting-edge art

A few weeks ago, I had a photo assignment to get photos of a man carving wood. When I got to the shoot, I found a man carving sculptures with a chainsaw--something I've been wanting to try someday.

I took photos for some time, talking to the man when he stopped to get enough information for a cutline.

Well, the shoot turned into a whole feature story that I had to write, so I conducted follow-up interviews, and the end product turned into what is arguably my best feature story.

So without further adieu...

Washington man brings chainsaw carving to Luray

By John Collins

Many think of a chainsaw as a rough, powerful tool for clearing trees. But Donald Kieffer’s chainsaw breaks that mold. His chainsaw is all about finesse. It is the main tool in his sculptor’s toolbox.

Kieffer, a descendant from the Spokane Indian tribe in Washington state, has been wielding a chainsaw for almost 30 years. For more than 20 years he was a logger in the pine forests of Washington. For the past 10 years, Kieffer has been using a chainsaw to carve bears, eagles, Indians, frogs, turtles, cowboys and owls out of logs.

About one month ago, Kieffer brought his art to Luray with the help of Lyle Kiszonas. Kieffer has been giving demonstrations on Saturdays in the Virginia Appeal parking lot. The demonstrations are scheduled every Saturday in August. Kieffer also hopes to set up at the Page Valley Agricultural and Industrial Fair next week.

Those who stop to watch Kieffer work quickly catch a whiff of fumes from the two-stroke chainsaw engine. But the aroma of the cedar being carved cuts through the oily fumes. Tan and red curls of sawdust pile up on the tarp below Kieffer’s work area.

Very few blocks of wood fall from the log as Kieffer cuts. Up until the fourth cut on a log, the carving could become anything – an eagle, bear or Indian. That flexibility is something Kieffer enjoys.

“You might not be able to use it as you intended,” Kieffer said.

Even if he were to make a seemingly devastating cut to a carving, Kieffer could still shape the chunk of wood into some sort of sculpture. Very rarely does he discard a carving.

“It’s not a piano,” he said. “It’s a chainsaw carving.”

Kieffer said the unique makeup of each log forces him to be creative. A seam of bark or a piece of metal in a log can keep the final product from being what he intended at the start.

“Some of my most creative pieces were brought on by something in the wood,” Kieffer said.

Back home on the Spokane Reservation, Kieffer usually uses yellow pine for his work. In Page County cedar is the closest equivalent. Kieffer uses wood from dead or dying trees. They have the best moisture content, he said.

Working with cedar is different, Kieffer said. The main difference is the scale of the logs. Using cedar, Kieffer is forced to carve much smaller sculptures than he would back home.

“My biggest one here is like my smallest there,” he said.

The smaller carvings create an interesting dichotomy. They get better with more work, Kieffer has learned.

“If you don’t have much wood, you do more with what you’ve got,” he said.

Many of Kieffer’s locally-carved pieces are two- to three-feet tall. In Washington, Kieffer can carve pieces eight-feet tall.
Kieffer’s saws, small Stihls covered in black paint to avoid free advertising, use a 13-inch bar. The bar and chain can be bought off the rack at a Stihl dealer.

Each of Kieffer’s saws has a different size tip. They range from the size of a quarter to the size of a dime. The dime-sized tip allows for more detail work, but the tight turn the chain makes causes the chain to wear out quicker than on the quarter-sized tip.

Though he’s never had an accident carving, the work still wears on Kieffer. After a lifetime breaking in his own horses on the reservation, Kieffer’s back is suffering some. The vibration from the chainsaw is exhausting. Periodically Kieffer stops to regain full feeling in his hands.

“When you do this five or six days a week for six hours a day, it gets to you,” he said.

But one six-hour day could produce two complete carvings that could fetch at least $100, if not more. That immediate gratification is one of the biggest rewards for Kieffer, who sculpted alabaster before taking up chainsaw sculpture. One of the stone sculptures could take anywhere from 30 to 100 hours to complete.
After using the chainsaw to add the texture of feathers or fur, Kieffer often makes one cut down the back of the sculpture to limit any future cracking.

Then he uses a torch to burn the surface of the carving. Next, he takes wire brush to remove the carbon deposits. The final step is applying wood oil for preservation.

The finished product features light blond areas with deep red highlights from the cedar.

At the Saturday demonstration, Kieffer takes a break from carving an eagle. Later, he will add a bear cub to the carving. He takes out his small yellow ear plugs and sits down to start a fresh Camel Turkish 100 cigarette.

He succinctly sums up his work.

“I just love doing what I’m doing,” he said.

Posted by JRC at September 1, 2004 10:03 PM | TrackBack