by Carl BR Johnson & William Stodalka
June 10, 2013
Photo by William Stodalka — Jeff Samudosky of Gig Harbour, Washington, U.S., poses with his first place plaque next to a carving of Guan Gong at the Chetwynd Chainsaw Carving Competition.
Around 1,800 years ago, two Chinese warlords – Cao Cao and Yuan Shao – met to fight over the fate of their country.
At the Battle of Boma, one general’s actions helped seal Cao Cao’s victory. At a pivotal point in the battle, Cao Cao’s general, Guan Yu, charged through thousands of soldiers to slay one of Yuan Shao’s generals, Yan Liang, and win the day.
Skip forward to about 2013, and Guan Yu helped win another battle for someone else – albeit in a way that Guan would never have imagined.
A chainsaw wood carving of Guan Yu – or Guan Gong, as the name some Chinese now worship him under – took first place in the Chetwynd chainsaw carving competition, netting its sculptor, American Jeff Samudosky, about $5,000 in prize money.
“I never expected this,” he said. “I’m honoured this sculpture here is a big powerful piece, and I was looking for a big powerful challenge.”
Samudosky was one of a dozen participants in the chainsaw competition, which took place from June 7 to 9.
For three days, competitors worked to sculpt out a vision from blocks of wood.
One of the competitors who travelled out, Stephanie Huber, came from Germany to compete.
“I’ve heard many good things about this competition it’s a big honour to be here,” she said. “The wood is a dream, to carve wood like that; it’s big, it’s soft and it’s beautiful.”
This type of wood can only be found in North America, and not within her native country.
Using this type of wood, she carved a sculpture of a girl riding a horse – one of many elaborate pieces on display.
These included items such as a scarecrow, a dinosaur, a moose, all the way down to small furry creatures like beavers and bear cubs.
There was even a depiction of the crucifixion of Christ.
Tonia Richter, manager of the Chetwynd Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber has been posting the woodcarving event for nine years.
“We’ve always had the backing of the District of Chetwynd,” said Richter.
“We have many sponsors for the event, but the district has always stepped in to make sure that we don’t take a loss for the event.”
With a total of 55 sponsors, the scope of this event was mind-boggling and Richter said the “pro carvers” that came had their travel expenses paid for by the chamber.
Their origins included the U.S.A., Germany, Japan, the U.K., Slovakia and Canada.
One such woodcarver, Chris Foltz, from Oregon, U.S.A., works as an executive chef and instructor at the Oregon Coast Culinary Institute.
His woodcarving is clearly a big part of his life and he says, “its just part of my vacation time to keep me out of trouble.”
“It’s really personal. It completely tests you every time if you’re trying to win in a competition.”
Foltz has been competing in this fashion all over the world in competitions as far away as Germany.
He’s also done some ice sculpting in Fort St. John where he won 1st place in the “High On Ice” invitational competition there.
“Sculpting, for me, breaks the monotony of a normal job,” he said.
Steven Higgins, from Kansas City, was the auctioneer and one of the judges for the Quick Carve Competition on Sunday.
He was found carving a bear cub on his own and completing special orders for citizens attending the event.
The 28 year-old said he’s been auctioneering since he was fifteen.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the auctions and the live entertainment,” said Higgins.
“This is my fourth year in Chetwynd, and I’ve competed all three years previous. I’m just honoured that they (the chamber) asked me to be a judge this year.”
He said he was in awe of the competitors’ talent, and said he has to remind himself to enjoy the event too.
“All these guys are just great individuals and sometimes I forget to stand back and enjoy them because I get so focused on carving,” he said.
“For me, being able to attend the event and to be in a position of honour, is the best of both worlds for me.”
Higgins said that he’s been able to “pay all my bills since I was a youngster” with his wood carving skills.
And the seminary student at the International House of Prayer University Seminary in Kansas City couldn’t help but sell the woodcarving event himself.
“This is one of the best wood carving competitions in the world. If you’re lucky enough to get invited, it is wise of you to accept the invitation and come out and test yourself against some of the best carvers in the world,” said Higgins.
Even with all this talent, not all of them could be winners.
Paul Frenette of Kitchener, Ontario won third place with a carving of Pan from the movie Pan’s Labyrinth. Coming in at second was a scarecrow made by Foltz.
Samudosky’s vision took first prize.
Samudosky has been doing this for 16 years, and his wrap around shades, workers boots, and lumberjack beard belie the artist underneath.
Sandusky admits that he’s usually carves wildlife sculptures, so capturing the larger than life nature of one of China’s most revered generals was “something totally out of my element,” he said.
“To capture human, to get all the fabric and detail, that’s not something I normally do in competition,” Samudosky added. “When I have to do a human sculpture, it usually takes me a lot longer to figure out.”
This sculpture was a repeat of one he was commissioned to do by an Asian couple about a year ago – but the last time, he had three and a half months to complete the sculpture. This time, he had less than 40 working hours. But he’s still pleased with the final product, which involved using 30 different tools.
“I didn’t do [the old sculpture] nearly as good as this one,” Samudosky said.
Now Guan Gong will have a new memorial, placed within the streets of Chetwynd as a marker of previous competitions past. Because Chetwynd provides travel and accommodations for these competitors, they agree to give up these massive carvings to line the city streets for years to come.
While Guan’s efforts may have meant for the Chinese people, his legacy will not only be remembered by the millions of residents of China, but also the 2,600 or so people in Chetwynd – an unlikely legacy, if there ever was one.
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