"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Artist Carves Niche With A Chainsaw

"Dean Anson uses a chainsaw to carve a tree trunk into a sculpture." (Photo
by Jami Custer)

TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma – Dean Anson is a Cherokee artist from Tahlequah who sculpts wood into bears, eagles and Indians. He started carving in 2004, but doesn’t use a knife or chisels and hammers. Instead he uses chainsaws to create his sculptures.

“One day I was carving a fish and I don’t know why. I was just sitting there and I thought this stump looked like a fish and I just kind of took away the bad and left the good,” he said.

Soon afterwards, he attended a contest in Eureka Springs, Ark., despite a fear of embarrassment. But out of fear came confidence.

“When I got there a guy asked me where I was from, and I told him Tahlequah, Okla., and he said there was only one guy (there) with my experience and at this time I only had a years worth of experience,” Anson said. “He was really impressed with my work, which made me feel better. He allowed me to set up and sell my pieces, so I dropped my tailgate and in two hours everything was gone.”

Anson has created nearly 60 pieces since 2004 and has improved his artistry.

“I have improved 110 percent, and I hear it on a daily basis. The people are so good to me. They come by and they let me know that they appreciate what I do.”

He has also received a nickname from people around the Tahlequah area – Wood Whisperer – which he lightheartedly calls his Indian name.

Many people ask him how he carves his pieces, but he doesn’t know. He just does it. He doesn’t draw anything out on a piece of paper or on the tree. He said he looks at and it tells him what it wants to be.

“Being a three-dimensional object you cannot really sketch on the wood. When I look at wood there are some pieces that just tell me that it’s in there, and all I got to do is remove the bad parts. I think that is where I get the name Wood Whisper,” he said. “I start the conversation with the wood like how was your life? Where did you come from? Have you ever been struck be lightening? Those are the kinds of things that I think of when I look at a trunk and then the tree starts its conversation back to me by not letting me cut an arm or a leg in a position that I would like to.”

He said he believes his ancestors couldn’t pick up any piece of wood and make a bow with it; they had to choose the right piece. This is similar to the way he works.

Most of his wood carvings are priced at $50 or more. It takes him about two hours for a small carving such as a bear or squirrel. But he said he is donating a piece to Tahlequah’s city park.

“They call that creek Town Branch, but history says the creek is called Bear Creek so I’m carving a bear for the city. And eventually I think they want to do other pieces down their walkway,” he said. “I would also like to do a piece for the Cherokee Nation. A lot of the thoughts I have in my head are Indian pieces.”

But Anson doesn’t make a living just selling his work. He also receives sponsorship from Stihl Power Tools and Keys Lawn and Garden in Tahlequah. He also gives woodcarving demonstrations and has performed at Bass Pro Shop in Broken Arrow and Keys Lawn and Garden.

Anson said he is scheduled to perform three shows at Broken Arrow’s Bass Pro Shop in March and three shows in May. The company also wants him to perform at some of its other regional stores.

“That’s a road I’m taking and see where it leads me,” Anson said. “I don’t know where I’m heading. I’m just walking the trail, and right now I’m enjoying it.”

Anson said he considers chainsaw carving a full-throttled art because of the saw’s roar, the cut timber’s scent and plenty of flying wood chips.

“It is truly a multi-sensory art because there are just so many things going on,” he said. “Our ancestors had rustic tooling, but they did the same form of art. My chainsaw to me is my calligraphy pen, my paint brush or my pencil on steroids as I like to call it.”

For more information on Anson’s carvings, call 918-458-0384.