FEATURES | chainsaw art

ARTISTRY IN WOOD
A world champion chainsaw artist and his
friends leave their marks in Sandersville

W TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY

JAMIE O’QUINN

What began as a party in Sandersville with

guests toting chainsaws and adaptive accessories
has eventually evolved into what has been infor-
mally dubbed as the chainsaw artists’ “Walk of
Fame.”
Hidden amongst 250-plus wooded acres, the
hospitality of award-winning master carver
Dayton Scoggins and saw helper/wife Michelle,
has attracted other world-renowned chainsaw
carvers from near and far with many leaving
“Angie had been traveling around to competi-
tions with us and she wanted to do one of her
trademark chicks for us,” Michelle said. “Being
here in the South, I thought it would be great to
have a Daisy Duke.”
Since freshly harvested wood works better for
their mark - quite literally - on their porch.
carving, three logs were located on the Scoggins
“Hurricane Katrina took the roofing off our
property and the trio of master chainsaw carvers
back deck and tossed it over into the pines,”
set to simultaneously working on the porch carv-
Michelle explained. “With so many downed trees
ings.
afterwards, Dayton cut them into boards and
“I did the bear on the far corner, Angie did the
built the deck roofing on three sides of the
girl at the opposite end and Captain Dave did the
house.”
fairy in between,” Dayton said. “When the carv-
Though the trunks of uprooted trees were uti-
ings were completed, the old, hard columns were
lized as columns and looked pretty good,
removed and the newly sculpted artwork was
Michelle had another vision. “Why not carve
inserted.”
these posts?” she asked.
Thus began the walk of fame.
With the tremendous demand for the Scoggins’
With a leisurely stroll around the porch, it is
“Artistry in Wood” business for stump and log
evident that the posts portray both unique per-
carvings in the wake of the hurricane’s aftermath,
sonalities as well as styles. Dayton’s bear is
and chainsaw carving competitions and demon-
reflective of his realistic style and attention to
strations, the porch column carvings were put on
intricate details. Next is a whimsical Chap
hold. It was during a break between chainsaw
Nelson “Hello” face that greets you as you climb
carving competitions that fellow chainsaw carver
the steps and bids you a sad “Goodbye” as you
Dave Lavoie - aka Captain Dave of Townsend,
leave. Dennis Beach’s imposing bear grabs your
Tenn. - and Australian Angie Polglaze spent
attention as you go down the line and the bear
some rest and relaxation time at the Scoggins
theme continues to the nearby two cubs carved
home.

14 a cc e n t s o u t h m i s s i s s i p p i
by Joe Semler. “Lisa Fairy” rests
daintily on the next post pro-
duced by Captain Dave. The
mystical creature is so titled
because she happens to look
like a chainsaw chick of the
same name. Fred Bero’s “Slim
Lefty” depicts a hillbilly com-
plete with removable red
tongue, one tooth, and two left
feet. Holding up her corner of
the porch is Daisy Duke with
red toenails, one of the original
porch sculptures carved by
Angie Polglaze.
Down the other side of the
house is another masterpiece by
Dennis Beach titled “The Soul
of the Forest,” which features a
mother bear and eagle battling
over a salmon. This piece was
the original practice piece Beach
carved at the Scoggins’ work
building in preparation for him
and Dayton competing and
winning the World Cup of
chainsaw sculpting in Germany.
Nick Bero, son of Fred Bero,
completed the next piece featur-
ing raccoon and squirrel. The
final piece on that side is the
only one actually sculpted from
the original Katrina post. It is a
depiction of a tornado caused
by Katrina, and sculpted by Pat
McVay. The two completed
posts on the back were carved
by two up and coming artists,
Ken Packie and Bert Davidson,
who the Scoggins met during
competitions. The pieces were
transported back home.
Though this former towboat
captain husband and barge
mate wife have only been in the
chainsaw carving business
seven and a half years, Dayton
has won an impressive amount
of awards and recognitions. In
fact, after winning first place in
his first competition and turn-
ing pro, he has been featured
on local and international tele-
vision and in multiple publica-
tions. His art is exhibited in
every state in the U.S. and sev-
eral countries abroad and has
won a plethora of awards
including first place for the
World Cup at the Husky Cup in
Mulda, Germany, in May 2009,
and the Golden Chainsaw
Competition in Minnesota in
2009. In addition, he was one of
only two Americans invited to
the World Chainsaw Art
Competition in Toei, Japan, in
2006 and in September 2005
represented the United States as
a cc e n t s o u t h m i s s i s s i p p i 15
 one of only 15 Americans
accepted to the international
invitation-only Sandringham
Festival of Wood. He is also a
member of The Cascade
Chainsaw Sculptors Guild, the
Craftsman’s Guild of
Mississippi, and a member of
the Mississippi Arts
Commission as a Roster Artist.
Whether traveling abroad to
competitions or competing here
in the U.S., Dayton consistently
enjoys his interaction with oth-
ers.
“There are so many different
aspects of going to competi-
tion,” Dayton said. “My
favorite is meeting the people,
seeing different countries and
getting to know other carvers.
From making so many friends
at the competitions, we could
probably travel across the
United States and pretty much
know somebody along the
way.”
Though the Scoggins do their
fair share of traveling, their
chainsaw carving friends make
an effort to come visit them,
often for a seven- to 10-day
stay.
“We are like a safe haven”
Michelle said. “People can come
here for rest and relaxation,
hunting, fishing, eating and if
they want they can carve.”
Some of their friends travel
from the north because spring
comes earlier down here.
Others from Europe want to
continue their travel and explo-
ration of the U.S. after competi-
tion and experience the culture
south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
16 a cc e n t s o u t h m i s s i s s i p p i
No matter where they are from,
friends and guests tend to make
the same request.
“They all want to eat
Southern food” Michelle said.
“Now, I was born a Yankee and
never fried anything before I
met Dayton. Fortunately, his
mom taught me how to make
greens and other Southern spe-
cialties. When people ask why
Southern food is so good, I tell
them the secret – bacon.”
In addition to good food,
Michelle said their friends often
feel like experimenting with
new materials. In addition to
hand, chainsaw, bone and stone
carving, Dayton also possesses
additional skills in metal art.
This equipment is made avail-
able to their guests to experi-
ment with as well. In fact,
Dayton enjoys finding new
tools to utilize in his chainsaw
carving work.
“I am a full-powered carver,”
he said. “When I go off to a
competition it is 99 percent
chainsaw carving and then we
pull out the power tools. I’m
always looking for something to
make my work easier or better.
I’m for whatever will get the
job done.“
From specialty bars utilized
to add small details to burning
the wood for both color and
smoothness, some items are
more standard in the industry.
Other items, however, might be
a crossover experiment from
another art medium.
“I remember a recent compe-
tition when Dayton pulled an
airbrush out of his bag instead
of the traditional spray paint
can,” Michelle said. “I got a
kick out of watching some of
the other participants’ faces.”
Dayton said that airbrushing
has been used by hand carvers
such as those specializing in
ducks for years, but the concept
of a chainsaw carver using it
was a little different.
“Everybody is hunting to
make things easier and when
somebody pulls out a new tool,
well we are all going over there
to check it out. That’s how art
progresses.”
In addition to his willingness
to experiment, Dayton‘s lifelong
passion for hunting, fishing and
trapping has also added to his
understanding of the intricate
details of animals and other
wildlife.
“There’s no substitution for
knowledge,” Dayton said.
“People carve what they envi-
sion, whether it’s right or
wrong. Some people are just a
little more right than others on
what their vision looks like.”
In addition to a passion for
chainsaw art, many of the
friends who visit the Scoggins
are also outdoor enthusiasts,
including renowned sculpture
Dennis Beach. Beach and
Dayton partnered in the Husky
Cup chainsaw carving competi-
tion in Germany this year and
won the World Cup.
“For me, carving is easy, it is
a matter of getting inspired,”
Beach said. “I have so much fun
hanging out with Dayton that
it’s easy to get inspired.”
Beach said that when he visits
the Scoggins, he feels like a high school kid again, only
they have a bigger selection of toys now, such as a bull-
dozer and other equipment.
“Dayton seems like somebody I’ve known all my life,”
Beach said. “I feel like we are cut from the same cloth. I
champion him as a true friend and I don’t say that too
often.”
Whether just hunting and fishing or whipping out
practice pieces together, it is friendships such as theirs
that seem to tie this artistic community together.
As for the Walk of Fame posts, well, that seems to be
just an added bonus. Dayton said that sometimes he
walks out on his porch, looks around and smiles. “I think
it’s pretty wild to have people come from all over to do
something like this for us and leave it. It is just really
cool.”

For more information on Dayton and Michelle Scoggins at

Artistry in Wood, visit their Web site at
www.artistryinwood.com or call (601) 649-6054.