It is a common narrative for someone to quit their workaday career to pursue what they love. Dave Marshalek happens to love chainsaws — more specifically, using chainsaws to carve bears, Bigfoots and other creatures.
Art and sculpture were part of Marshalek’s life for years before he became a chainsaw carver. He originally studied at Kent State University in Ohio to be a stone carver and sculpt stone statues for churches. He also worked as a completion artist at Marvel comics, penciling and inking work for artists who were behind deadline. All of this gave him a detailed understanding of anatomy and musculature but ultimately, he said, life interfered with his aspirations and to support his family he opted for a sales career in the oil industry.
He resumed his art career with chainsaw carving at the urging of his high school sweetheart and second wife, who is also artist.
“She encouraged me to quit work and do what I wanted to do,” he said, before joking, “You know, I work now more than I ever did before, working for myself, but it’s something you love.”
At first, Marshalek followed the grain and carved mostly wildlife, but he is branching out to include figurative work more in line with his classical art training.
“I got into this, and if you can carve an eagle, an owl or a bear, you’ll never starve, is what they told me. So I spent my first four years just doing what everybody else did, and we made a decent living but as an artist, it’s not what I want to do. So I’m in transition mode now. I’m going to start introducing my angels and figures and some dynamic work,” he explained.
Most projects take half a day to a day and a half. The shape of a log tells him what will fit and how he should maneuver the figure, but he does not let it dictate what he creates. The carving process itself depends on the wood, the subject and the circumstances. Custom work, including portraits of people and pets, requires him to rough out his cuts in pencil first. But when sculpting inventory pieces ahead of shows, he said, “I don’t do anything but fire up a saw and jump on a log. I don’t have to pre-draw anything.”
White pine is his favorite wood to work with.
“It’s half the weight of yellow pine takes a real nice finish, it’s even grained. But I’m a little different from some of the carvers because I like the hardwoods, too, because it holds finer detail,” Marshalek said.
Shows and competitions are a large part of chainsaw life. In 2019 Marshalek attended 28 shows around the country, placing very highly in more than one. Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic halted most competitions, but several are reopening in 2022.
“This year, we cut way back,” he noted. “Some of them are opening back up.”
Marshalek and his wife are even hosting a gathering of their own on their property in rural Tennessee called Carver’s Summit.
“It’s wonderful because it’s not really a comp yet. I have logs, I have food. They bring their beer. We just hang out for a full week and just talk carving, do carving, exchange ideas, and it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing to see.”
Carvers routinely swap artwork, techniques, and even mechanical parts in the event of a breakdown.
“It’s the most helpful community I’ve ever been in, in my life,” said Marshalek.
Marshalek has recently moved part-time to Chaonia Landing outside Poplar Bluff to care for his in-laws’ property there, and is greatly enjoying the area. He would love to start a business or find shops in town to carry his work, get the community excited about chainsaw carving, and maybe even bring a chainsaw carving show to town.
“I got adopted into something called the American Carving Company in upstate New York. And the goal there is to have traveling competition. And since we’re here, he (the organizer) wants to do Poplar Bluff,” he said.
In the meantime, Marshalek welcomes folks to check out his Facebook page or find him on Instagram at @wood_brute. He welcomes commissions and works with people’s budgets.
“People can get some unique gifts, and let it be known — you don’t have to go all the way to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to get a bear,” he said.