As we have noted before, sometimes we just stumble upon something we had not been looking for at all. Such was the case when we traveled through the town of Reedsport, Oregon while visiting the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area on the Pacific Coast. We didn’t have any intention of stopping in Reedsport, but we saw one of those big white banners hanging over the main highway reading, “15th Annual Oregon Divisional Chainsaw Sculpting Championship”. We looked at our watches and figured we had at least an hour to invest so we followed the signs over to the site of the chainsaw sculpting. The admission fee didn’t break the bank at $3 each, so in to the grounds we went.
Almost immediately, we were blown away by what was going on there. This was an international competition of chainsaw sculptors. There were professionals and semi pros. There were 50+ contestants from 8 countries. The sculptors were competing over a four-day period. Each day the carvers worked on their main event sculpture but in between these sessions they did a 90-minute quick carve where they completed a sculpture within this time period which was sold that evening at auction. A quick carve example is shown in the picture to the right.
While we were there, the sculptors were working on their main event carvings. This was their sixth of seven sessions of main event carving so the sculptures really were starting to take shape.
You just never know in your travels when you are going to stumble upon a chainsaw sculpting competition.
Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them. And if you want to learn more about this art genre check it out at http://www.oregonccc.com/.
Great stumble-upon, the carvings are spectacular.
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