Eau Claire (WQOW) - Artists from around the world
gathered today for a different kind of competition. They wrapped up the U.S.
Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship. Competitors were given logs leftover from
the storms that passed through the area back in may. Over the course of several
days, ten competitors transform them into amazing works of art.
"This is an
international event, so the competitors that come here are some of the best
carvers from around the world. It's a great honor to be invited," said St. Paul's Curtis Ingvoldstad.
Sunday marks the final day of the
U.S. Open Chainsaw Sculpture Championship. It's a four day event where artists
turn ordinary logs into extraordinary artwork using a variety of tools.
"Once you're done
sanding a lot of times or even carving, you've got to blow the carving off to
even see even what's been carved sometimes. A blower is definitely necessary,
an air compressor, and then there's a whole array of finishing products like
stains, and then there's sprayers, air brushes, paint brushes..."
Spending time with other
professional carvers over the weekend is a big draw for many competitors.
"Getting to see other
people's styles, just meeting other carvers. I've carved with some of these
guys before, but if you haven't carved with them for a few years it's kind of
like meeting them all over again. You harass each other, give each other a hard
time, but it's all in good fun. But you also get to see how everybody else
approaches the whole concept. What tools do they use, what saws do they use,
how do they work their setup," said Eau
Claire's Dave Meyers.
Once the artists are
done with their work, judges will hand out awards and the pieces are then sold
at auction.
"You get into a
piece so much that I'd rather buy it back myself, you know, and keep it. But
yeah, you work on it for that long, you do get attached. Or you start to see
things and you're like "Oh I'd like to take it back and just fix this one
thing," but you're allotted that 24 and a half hours and what you get done
in that time frame is what you get done," Meyers said.
Carvers in the event had won
previous competitions and applied before being selected. The field consisted of
7 guests and 10 competition carvers. The winning piece was sold for just over $5,000.
The event was held at the Paul Bunyan Logging Museum in Carson Park. Half of the money from the auction
will go to the museum, while the other half goes to the artists themselves.
