Postal carrier turns logs into art with chain saw

Some sculptors mold clay. Some chisel away at hunks of marble.

//

Wood sculptor Kevin Brown whacks away at logs with a chain saw.

Numerous pine logs, considered trash by area lumber mills, litter the yard of Brown's Martinez home.

Soon, Brown will transform them into Santa totems, snowmen, potted flowers, Georgia bulldogs, deer heads, turkeys and manger scenes.

The only limit of the logs' outcome is Brown's imagination.

"Especially this time of year, I'll do a lot of what people ask me for," he said. "I like coming up with new ideas, but I also like doing them for other people. I want to give people what they want."

After a stint in the Navy, Brown visited North Carolina with a friend and saw a wood sculpture he wanted, but it wasn't for sale. Instead, he chose to make one.

"I always like to be creative, but carving with a chain saw is not something I ever saw myself doing," he said. "But it's like everything else; the more time you spend doing it the better you get."

Brown, a postal carrier, started wood carving with a set of chisels, but preferred the immediacy offered by a chain saw.

"It (chisels) took too long," he said. "I didn't have the patience for it.

"With a chain saw, I can start from scratch and finish something in a few hours."

Since taking up the hobby, Brown estimates he has made about 2,000 statues.

Some he has given to family and friends as gifts and some he sells through various stores around Georgia. He also takes commissions.

His works sell for $100-$150. Brown can be reached at (706) 651-1270.