EDMOND —
When a 50-year-old maple tree started dying at Donna and Melvin Gleason’s house in west Edmond, Melvin was ready to cut it down. Donna urged him to let her have something carved into the trunk.
Two eagles seemed appropriate for more than one reason.
“I just liked the way they looked when I picked them out of the samples I looked at,” Donna said.
“A friend of mine helped me cut it down and we left the trunk about 10 feet tall,” Melvin said.
Donna looked around until she found Tom Zimmer and his wife, Wendy, owners of Oklahoma Chain Saw Carvings out of Choctaw.
“We had to get on a two-month waiting list,” Donna said, “but once Tom got started it has taken him about two days to finish the statue.”
Donna said the amazing thing was Zimmer didn’t use a drawing or sketch, he just looked at the trunk and said two eagles would look good.
Working with five chain saws, Melvin said Zimmer was all over the statue working a little in one place with one saw and then grabbing another saw and working on another spot.
Once the eagle statue is completed, Zimmer said an oil-based tint for protection will be put on the statue and the deep cuts will make areas of shadowing.
“I’ve been carving for about 15 years,” said the transplanted New Yorker who drives a pickup with a large carved wooden dog hanging out of the back. “My wife and I moved to Oklahoma about five years ago to get out of the carving business because I was burned out.”
That lasted about two years before Zimmer was back at carving again.
“Some of my statues were smaller than this one,” he said. “The first couple of years I carved about 600 statues but now I am down to a couple a week.
“I like to bust out of the total shape the piece of wood was,” Zimmer said.
A self-taught artist and carver, Zimmer added, “I believe everyone has an artistic side in them, a creative side, and they just have to exercise it like anything else. I have been fortunate to have been able to exercise my artistic side for the past 15 or so years.”
For more information, call 390-1035, or look for them at oklahomachainsawcarvings.com. For more photos find them on Facebook at Oklahoma chain saw carvings.
pmiller@edmondsun.com | 341-2121
Local News
Related Photos
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JAMES COBURN | THE EDMOND SUN Oklahoma woodcarver Tom Zimmer is getting ready to put the finishing touches on a wood sculpture in the backyard of Melvin and Donna Gleason. The sculpture was cut out of the trunk of a 50-year old maple tree that had to be cut down by the homeowners.
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JAMES COBURN | THE EDMOND SUN Two eagles carved from the trunk of a 50-year old maple perch atop a jagged wooden cliff rising 9 feet into the sky. The wooden sculpture was made by Tom Zimmer who has been carving larger than life statues for 15 years.
Discussion
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