Dunedin chainsaw artists holds first solo show

Chainsaw artist Jim Leithead lets the story come through in each of his carvings.

Animals, human figures, totem poles and furnishings emerge from carefully sourced materials, with the use of a chainsaw and a sander.

“I am trying to get the story out. Every piece has me in it, that’s why they all have a story to tell, they all have a message,” he said.

Leithead, who works out of Cedarfox Studio, has been carving for about 15 years and said at a certain point in his life he realized that this is his thing, he is an artist.

“I carve to a feeling,” he said. “Everything is energy, we are made of energy.”

The results can be deeply symbolic, sometimes humourous but each one is unique.

“It just comes out,” he said.

He said he started on a whim while working with a friend in the bush in Hockley Valley. Once alone, he came across a dead stump and felt compelled to carve it. He created a hawk that was so good, his friend thought Leithead was playing a trick on him and had planted the carving.

Leithead said he has a different method from other carvers out there and he doesn’t immerse himself in that world.

“I am intentionally uneducated about all forms of art,” he said.

He does do performances and has been asked to carve at many events and festivals but he prefers to work in his studio. This weekend will mark his first big solo exhibit this weekend.

Included in his varied work are two tables made from halves of a tree that was hollowed out by squirrels at his Dunedin home and wine racks made from 126-year-old floor joists from the parlour of an old house in Shelburne. Each piece was transformed into its current form for a reason; Leithead saw it and pulled it out.

“There is more functional art than I have ever made before,” said Leithead. 

He has made a bar out of cherry and six intricate bar stools with a bird motif carved out of pine logs.

The exhibit will be held outside at Highland Meadows Farm where Leithead has a studio. The show is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26 and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Highland Meadows Farm is located at 3168 Nottawasaga Concession 11. From Creemore, take County Road 9 through Dunedin to 6/7 Sideroad and turn right on Concession 11. From Collingwood, take County Road 124 south to 6/7 Sideroad and turn left onto Concession 11.

Visit www.cedarfox.com.