Davey Gagne Creates Art with a Chainsaw in His Hands

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By Gail Wood

all star ford sponsorSomehow, in Davey Gagne’s hands, a chainsaw becomes a tool for creating art, not just a tool for falling trees.

With a chainsaw, Gagne has sculptured a swordfish jumping from the water, an eagle flying and a bear pushing a wheelbarrow.

Somehow, by using chainsaws with blades that are four feet to eight inches long, he can turn a 7-foot block of cedar into artwork.

“It really is lovely,” said Janet Nelson, a longtime friend of Gagne’s. “And it’s something he really loves to do.”

By day, Gagne is a carpenter, swinging a hammer and building homes. In his spare time, he’s a chainsaw sculptor.

chainsaw carver olympia“He builds houses, but he’d rather do chainsaw carving,” Nelson said.

For Gagne, a fishing trip to Westport turned into a wishing trip nearly 20 years ago. After fishing, he watched a chainsaw sculpturing contest that was going on in that town that weekend. He was amazed at what he saw. For the next five years, Gagne came back to watch that contest at Westport, watching their techniques as they used chainsaws, grinders and sanders.

“I was totally infatuated with it,” Gagne said. “We went to watch that every year after that. After awhile, I said I could do this.”

That was 12 years ago. Gagne, who is now 52, has competed in those contests. After doing three or four competitions a year for a number of years, he does only one a year now. In the first week of July, he competed along with 13 other chainsaw sculptors, in a contest at Sedrow Wooly. The competition is intense. All contestants get a seven foot block of cedar and they get 22 hours over four days to carve whatever they want within the theme of western logging and northwest wildlife. The winning piece will  sell for about $1,500.

“It’s an invitational,” Gagne said. “You can’t just show up. You have to be invited.”

A couple of years ago, Gagne won the Sedro Woolley contest. His winning sculpture was a head of a horse from the neck up reaching around a fence with a broken wagon wheel at the bottom.

“The judges want to see a story,” Gagne said. “They want to see something happen. They want to see action. You’re judged on that.”

chainsaw carver olympiaGagne is passionate about chainsaw sculpturing. His home in West Olympia has chainsaw sculptures on display and for sale.  In addition to the fish and birds, there’s Ferdinand the Bull sitting, chewing a daisy. He also has a bull with his legs crossed drinking a beer and there’s a cowboy’s arm coming up waving a flag. Then there’s the trowels and Disneyland characters. He has a sense of humor in his work, which is clear in the carving of a bear pushing a cart.

“What I like doing most is caricatures,” Gagne said. “I do serious stuff, too. But it’s relaxing when you can do a caricature and sit back and laugh at it.”

Most of the chainsaw sculpturing that Gagne does is requested.

“You can’t believe the number of people who come here and order things that mean something to them,” Nelson said. “Whether it’s for a loved one who is alive or a loved one who is going. We have people cry all the time when they ask for something. It’s really heartfelt.”

chainsaw carverGagne, a 1980 graduate of Tumwater High School, got involved with working with his hands at a young age. When he was 18, he took classes in how to do cabinet and stain glass. After he graduated from high school, he began working as a carpenter in home construction.

Around that time, Gagne got involved with riding Brahma bulls in the rodeo. Since he worked as a carpenter during the week, Gagne would drive to little towns across the Northwest to compete in Brahma bull riding over a five year stretch. He never won, but he placed a couple of times. More importantly, he never got hurt seriously.

“You’re riding 30, 40 bulls a year,” Gagne said. “So, I was pretty lucky.”

The lure for Gagne was the chance to go to a small town for a big show.

“Most of the rodeos were in small towns and that was their only excitement,” he said. “They made a big deal out of it and they treated you pretty nice.”

But eventually chainsaw carving replaced rodeos for Gagne. A self-taught carver, he’s become an accomplished chainsaw artist.

For more information, go to his website at chipsaflyin.com. To make an appointment to go see his artwork, call him at his home at 360-866-8563 or on his cell at 360-561–3335.

 

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