Chainsaw Artist Turning Crescent Creek Park Stump Into Masterpiece

An old cedar stump at Crescent Creek Park in Gig Harbor will soon become a chainsaw-ed masterpiece.

This week, Jeffrey Samudosky, an internationally award winning chainsaw artist, began work on a 100-year-old Western Red Cedar Tree stump on the park property.

The Maritime Playzone Committee, a group of community volunteers spearheading the park remodel, invited Samudosky to create a visually enticing wood sculpture at the site.  He will start by peeling the bark away and evaluating the tree, move to chainsaw work, then wood working tools for detail and possibly even torch work for coloring.

The course for the project will be determined as the innards of tree are exposed.  Samudosky said he is inspired by artist Bev Doolittle’s work in which, “the more you look the more you see.”

The concept will continually evolve as the project progresses and Samudosky’s vision comes to reality.  The final product will be approximately 12 feet tall and 6 feet wide, and it will contain carvings of a large number of marine and wildlife species native to this area.

The nearly century old tree was cut by the City of Gig Harbor almost two years ago because the growth pattern of the tree. Co-dominant stems caused the stump to split over time. The weakened trunk was determined to be dangerous, especially with its proximity to the playground.

Since coming down, a void of space has developed in the center of the stump. This area will add a three-dimensional aspect for the art, a negative area for carving, an exciting opportunity for creativity.

Samudosky expects the project to span up to a three-week period and he invites the public to observe during the process.  The public is asked to observe a safety perimeter area around the artist, which will be clearly indicated by signage.   

We ask you, Gig Harbor Patch users, what kinds of wildlife would you like to see included in the wood sculpture?