Spring Valley woman turns stumps, logs into chainsaw art

Finding a new passion or hobby can happen at any time.

Three years ago, Angie Chaney decided to carve out a new niche in artwork. With power tools.

What started as a new wood carving hobby using hand tools in 2013 has now morphed into using a chainsaw to turn stumps and logs into works of art.

Finding new purpose in something set to be discarded or turned into dust.

“I saw somebody carving on a video with hand tools,” Chaney said. “I thought that looked like fun. I got my own tools, and I started carving with chisels and knives. I wanted to carve bigger stuff, so that meant I needed a bigger tool, and that meant a chainsaw.”

Chaney was born and raised in Spring Valley in Tuscumbia. She later moved to Nashville for over a decade and tried out songwriting and making music before eventually returning home.

She now helps take care of her elderly parents. In her spare time, she carves images of Native Americans and other “wood spirits” into stumps and turns logs into things like pumpkins, bears, rabbits, birds and other woodland-related items.

“I was scared to death when I first went to use a chainsaw,” Chaney said. “I asked my dad and brother, and they let me have an old one. I had to go to YouTube to learn how to start it. It was such an old one, and I spent half a day trying to start it, and it just couldn’t. I invested in one I could start, and I went from there.”

Chaney said she doesn’t carve anything using live trees. Her work involves stumps that have been left after removal or trees that have died.

She said her brother works in the logging industry, and he has friends that work at sawmills or do tree removal.

“If they find a nice log, they will ask me if I want it,” Chaney said. “The best logs are cedar, which we have a lot of around here. I’m always on the lookout for good cedar logs.”

She said each project is different and comes with a unique set of challenges, so estimating how much time it takes to carve any one item is difficult.

Wood spirits generally take days to a few weeks, while smaller items may only take a few hours.

“There are so many things, you just never know what is going to happen,” Chaney said. “One time, I was carving, and I started stinging all over. I got ate up by ants, and I had to stop and do some extermination work. Another time I had worms falling out from a limb above me. I’ve been into bees, all that kind of stuff.”

The tools themselves present a hazard while working. Though Chaney said she has not been injured by a chainsaw, other tools are sharp and can “bite,” so she keeps bandages handy.

Chaney has made a number of chainsaw art pumpkins for Halloween. These and some other items are available at Serendipity Effect at 1678 S Wilson Dam Road in Muscle Shoals.

Anyone interested in her work may also visit Angela’s Carvings on Facebook or call 256-275-5861.

“I really enjoy it,” she said. “A carving doesn’t feel finished until it has found its home. The people that like these carvings and are attracted to them are some of the sweetest people. They have this spark in their eyes. It’s like they still have some of that child’s heart. I think it takes us out of this mundane world for just a minute or two and brings back some of that magic.

“I have loads of fun. It’s hot, sweaty, dirty, and it makes me tired, but it’s fun.”