For Artist, Sawing Is Believing

MONTEREY —  Tu Ly cut repeated bites out of the huge redwood log, gradually transforming it into a likeness of the stuffed wild boar he was using as a model.

In his outdoor studio, the chain-saw sculptor carved his latest creation, which was ordered by a woman as a gift for her hunter husband. It would take Ly three days to complete it and cost the woman $500.

Ly, 44, was surrounded by 250 redwood statues, a mix of his own work and the creations of other chain-saw artists.

There were life-size bears, pelicans, parrots, Indians, cowboys, buffalo, horses, eagles, California mission padres, gnomes, raccoons and various other figures, including chefs, mermaids, dragons and Paul Bunyan.

But there were more figures of bears than anything else--all kinds of bears, momma bears, papa bears, baby bears, bears up a tree, bears golfing, bears skiing, bears dressed like doctors, dentists, policemen, bears going hunting with guns slung over their shoulders.

A master sergeant in the South Vietnamese army for 11 years, Ly fled his homeland nine years ago in a boat with 45 family members. Today he is one of fewer than 100 full-time chain-saw sculptors in America.

He works for Burlwood Industries Inc., which advertises itself as having the largest selection of redwood chain-saw carvings in the world. Four chain-saw artists work for the company.

Several other chain-saw sculptors have studios and shops up and down the Pacific Coast. Others can be found in heavily wooded areas scattered across the United States.

Most of the nation’s nine major chain-saw companies hire chain-saw sculptors to demonstrate the unusual craft at special events, trade shows and lumberjack festivals. The saws used by the artists are specially modified with safety bars for use as sculpturing tools.

“Our chain-saw sculptors have carved statues as large as a 26-foot-tall Paul Bunyan. They do statues of living people,” said Marilyn Buck, 45, who with her husband, George, 45, owns Burlwood Industries.

The Monterey firm’s carvings sell from $40 for the smallest to $15,000 for the largest. A large carved buffalo was priced at $4,500; six-foot-tall bears were selling for $650. It depends upon how much time a sculptor spends on the piece.

Human statues go for about $1,500. Los Angeles singer-comedian Jose Gonzales had a redwood statue of himself made recently. Sometimes the statues are carved while the subject poses for the artist, sometimes from photographs.