Bored Panda got in touch with Kenneth Packie, a wood sculptor residing in the Berkshire Mountains of Western MA, to learn more about the craft of wood carving and about his profession as a sculptor.

Kenneth was part of the three-man team that won first place at the ninth annual Husky Cup World Sculpting Championships in Mulda, Germany with their life-size figure of a medieval knight on horseback “The Knight”. Visit his Instagram and website to see his incredible creations!

Kenneth shared that before his career as a sculptor, he was a telecom tech building a network in New England. “I was burnt out with the ‘on call’. We bought a second piece of property in the Southern Berkshire Mountains and went to a log home show. There was a carver working on a very realistic bear. I had seen basic ‘square bears’ in my travels and thought the form was limited by the tools used. It looked like great stress relief! I took a short class because I’d never used a chainsaw. I called a logger, got a load of wood and I’d come home at night, take out the wildlife books, stand up a log, and carve! I realized it’s an open art form with gatherings and competitions so I put myself out there to learn.

In 2007 I went to the Ridgway Carvers Rendezvous in Western PA. It was an epiphany. Looking at the level of work people were supporting their families with, I knew I had to try, I was already close. A year later I set up at a General Store by a big recreational lake to test the waters, got swamped with commissions, quit my job and started working harder than I ever had to support my family with art! I never looked back. I’ve been a full-time wood sculptor since August 2008.”

Throughout his career, Kenneth has created thousands of sculptures. The artist shared that carvings can take 30 minutes or up to 5 weeks to create. “I’m probably proudest of the horse and rider I created at the World Cup in Germany. It was a team competition so I carved it with Jeff Samudosky and Tomas Vrba. The scale, detail, and working with others against the clock made it extremely challenging.”

According to Kenneth, the hardest thing about the art of chainsaw carving is creating a 3D sculpture out of a log because it is physically demanding, loud and dirty. “The most difficult part is the preparation, securing the raw materials, transporting them, moving them around. After the log is stood up and in place, it all flows very quickly. The longer I’ve been doing this, the clearer it is to find that form in the log. The most difficult thing after that is when to stop. I feel like I ‘abandon’ most carvings. From a practical standpoint, it comes down to what the budget was for the carving.” The artist shared that he loves getting down to the details, the fur, feathers, face and fingers/talons/claws.

Wood carving has been a cherished art form for centuries. Kenneth thinks that the public’s fascination with wood sculptures comes from seeing a log turned into something before their eyes. “We take something that was alive and bring it back to life in a different form.”

Kenneth has a no-cut-to-carve policy. “All my wood is recycled and came down for other reasons. Storm trees, trees from power companies clearing lines, etc. These big international competitions are pushing the art form. It has attracted a lot of classically trained sculptors who realize how big, how fast, and how detailed you can get with the saw. Add power tools and chisels to your endgame and you’ll see a whole group of ‘modern masters’ creating legitimate works of art on a large scale. It’s only going to keep getting bigger and better!”