Perry County News July 11, 2005

Harvesting Success - 'Family' Business Works to Protect Land by: Tom Schuman

Jason Emmons gets razzed sometimes about his youthful appearance. At 32, the St. Croix man isn�t that wet behind the ears, but he is the youngest member of a new national team of chain-saw carvers representing a growing art form. �I�m the baby of the bunch,� Emmons admitted during a carving break at the Bear Hollow wood shop he operates with his family near the intersection of Indiana 37 and Indiana 62. After working for a decade as a timber grader in the family�s sawmill, Emmons heeded a suggestion from his wife Cindy to try chain-saw carving. He practiced and even read a few books. Something must have clicked because he was soon helping to launch a new carving business. That was nearly three years ago and since then, Emmons has made a name for himself, selling his work around the country.

When Echo Inc., the national manufacturer of chain saws and outdoor power equipment decided to form a team of chain saw carvers, company officials were told to take a look at Emmons. After looking at his work and an undercover visit to his St. Croix studio and showroom, he was offered the spot on the five-person team. That honor has been opening new opportunities. He was in Lake Zurich, Ill., the location of Echo�s suburban Chicago headquarters, in late April as the company introduced its team. During a four-hour carving demonstration by members of the team, Emmons crafted a snowy owl. It wasn�t awarded first place by the honorary judge, Lake Zurich�s mayor, but Emmons said he was proud of the work. He recently returned from a competition in Reedsport, Ore., where he placed 13th out of 59 carvers from across the U.S., Europe and Asia. After a drawing to determine which piece of wood would be his, Emmons set to work on a 7-foot tall spruce log a whopping 6 feet in diameter. Emmons design was elaborate, a bench with an American native and a mountain scene with horses, took slightly longer to finish than he expected. �I basically ran out of time,� he said. But he gained valuable experience and was able to sell the piece in Oregon, paying his travel expenses. Gatherings of carvers are friendly contests, Emmons says, where ingenuity and creativity are tested. �There�s nothing cutthroat about it. You learn by talking to other carvers.

After local demonstrations this month, Emmons and his teammates will journey westward again, this time to Westport, Wash., for the Aug. 3-7 West Coast Championships. The top three finishers in the Washington contest and others this summer and fall will qualify for an Echo-sponsored championship in Louisville, Ky., Oct. 14-15. Most of his teammates are just like Emmons, full-time carvers, but with more years of experience. In fact, Emmons thinks he was tapped for the team because of his age. �I�m younger, so I think they see me as someone up-and-comer,� he says. �They wanted a well-rounded team.� Emmons is Bear Hollow�s lead carver and handles most of the requests for custom work. A division of Phil Etienne�s Timber Harvest, Bear Hollow employs other carvers who create carved bears, turkeys, owls and an assortment of other animals. Each work is different. Two bears may seem identical, but look at them long enough and the individual personalities come out. A mother bear holds a cub gingerly in its jaws, while another bear stands with a mischievous look on his face.

The showroom is also filled with ornate birdhouses, wall hangings and garden benches. Carving is an �under-appreciated art form,� Emmons said, one similar to working with marble or other material. Asked how he visualizes the carving in the block of wood, Emmons puts a finger to his head and says the process is mostly mental. �I visualize the piece and make sure it will fit in the wood I have and then sort of make a mental file of what I want it to look like,� he says. Emmons then sets to work with his chain saw, roughing-out the shape of the design and then adding details like feathers and fins. Under the shade of an orange canopy, Emmons worked outside last week on a bench supported by two great Danes. Emmons worked on the outline of the canines, explaining of the mental steps he takes. Take the ears. �I started out with ears this wide,� he says, indicating the erect ears were first carved much larger. Had he encountered a crack in the wood or made a mistake, Emmons could have worked around the problem, making the ears slightly smaller.

�You can always take wood away, but you can�t add it,� he said. Emmons� most rewarding piece resides in New York. A woman commissioned him to carve a replica of a beloved German shepherd. The dog had died and the carving was intended to serve as a marker over the grave. The woman sent photos of the dog, most showing the canine with his head slightly tilted to one side. �That�s what I tried to recreate,� Emmons explained. The bust of the dog took more than 10 hours to create. The telephone rang a couple of days after the dog was crated and shipped to its owner. �She called crying,� Emmons said. �She said it looked just like her dog.� The woman loved the piece so much she kept it in the house as a tribute to her pet. �I don�t think she was about to leave it outside,� Emmons said. �It meant too much to her.� Bear Hollow Wood Carvers is located on Old Indiana 37. For more information on Emmons� work or upcoming carving demonstrations, call 843-5549.

For more information email us at pethinc@psci.net or call us at 812-843-5208