By the turn of the century, the growth of the Internet introduced this highly specialised art form to artists in Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa and although the general public often regards it as ‘performance art’ (because of the noise, sawdust and very fast carving results), there are some carvers now producing stunning works of art.

Modern chainsaw artists use specially adapted chainsaws that have very small guide bars (typically less than three centimetres in diameter, which guides the cutting chain) in order to create the intricate detail that would be impossible with a standard guide bar. The chains that are used are modified by reducing the depth of the teeth in order to make them cut more efficiently at the tip of the bar; and also so they do not ‘kick back’ when using the tip.

And so it is that in the north of England on the 
St. Ives Estate, near Bingley in West Yorkshire, lurk a plethora of witches, ghouls and goblins —  the work of Rodney Holland, a master chainsaw carver who lives in Dumfriesshire in the south west of Scotland.

Rodney grew up on a sheep farm where he spent his spare time making decorative shepherds’ crooks that would feature numerous designs including dogs, fish, pheasants and abstract patterns.

One day, a huge tree blew over on his property during a storm and as he was sawing up the tree for firewood he had the idea of trying to carve something instead. The skills he had developed making crooks came to the fore and three hours later he had made his first chainsaw carving.

From these small beginnings, Rodney developed Quantum Chainsaw Carving, the very first such business in the UK. He built a company website and as a result got invited to the USA, where he met fellow carvers from around the globe.

Since that time he has been instrumental in setting up a world wide forum of carvers, and is a founder director of The International Chainsaw Carvers Guild. He has also won numerous awards for his art.

In 2003, he was approached by the St. Ives Estate to reflect some of its history — St. Ives used to form part of the land belonging to the Monks of Rievaulx in the Middle Ages and was also used by General Fairfax as a base during the English civil war in the 17^th century. Rodney paid a visit to Yorkshire where he walked around the estate, planning his carvings which would take him just under two years to create.

As always when he is commissioned, he first drew out some rough sketches in order to meet the needs of the customer, who as often as not will request specific nuances to be incorporated into the design. “All the time I have to think in 3D,” he told me. “A chain saw is a very harsh instrument and you have to be continually thinking about the depth of your cuts and of how much it will weaken the timber as you reduce its thickness. Keeping the saw sharp is absolutely essential and I much prefer working with soft woods,” he says.

One of his carvings typically takes between a half-day and two days, depending on its complexity, to complete. “One of my favourite pieces at St. Ives is of a monk looking out over a pond,” he says, “which took me a whole day to carve. In the 15^th century, the monks used to farm fish in the lakes, and I have positioned this carving on a hill overlooking one of the estate’s ponds. You have to look hard to see it, as — in common with many of these carvings — they often camouflage well into their surroundings.”

All the carvings need to be treated with preservative once a year; but despite that they obviously have a limited lifetime as lichens, moss and the ravages of time take their toll.

If you were to consider commissioning Rodney to create a work of art for you, it would cost you anything from around Dh3,000 for a small item to tens of thousands of dirhams for carvings up to 15 metres high.

If you would like to see Rodney Holland in action, go to YouTube and search for ‘Chainsaw Carving of a 
large Eagle.’

news@khaleejtimes.com