A chain(saw) reaction in the Highlands

Visitors to a Highland village will find a chain reaction is in store next weekend.

This year’s Carve Carrbridge, which takes place next Saturday, 1 September, is the competition sculptors from around the world are keen to be a part of as demonstrated by the truly international line-up of chainsaw carvers.

Now in its 16th year, Carve Carrbridge is the ultimate chainsaw carving competition and is attracting some of the best names in the business, not to mention thousands of spectators who swell the Highland village’s population by at least four times for that one day.

This year sees the first ever South American carver throwing his saw into the ring in a bid to win the coveted Claymore Trophy. Adrian Bois from Villa Elisa near Buneos Aires might be more used to the warm weather of Argentina but it didn’t stop him joining a 26-man team to carve an Ice Hotel in Sweden last year. Wood or ice… this is a carver to watch out for.

Another new comer who is no stranger to the limelight is John Hayes from Waterford in Ireland who recently got himself a spot in the Guinness World Book of Records by carving a 23m long Viking sword from a single tree. Fellow first timer Martin Kalman – a former opera singer from Slovakia – is hoping to wow the judges, not with his operatic tones, but with his carvings inspired by women and nature.

But whether a new carver to the competition or a seasoned winner like Pete Bowsher or Iain Chalmers, both from Scotland, the task is the same – each carver has to create a work of art from a piece of Sitka Spruce 22 inches in diameter and eight foot long – in only four hours.

They’re only allowed to use chainsaws to produce their sculpture and burners to add finishing details to the carvings.

The winner of the main carve, as voted for by the six strong judging panel, will raise the Claymore Trophy and earn the right to ‘brag’ at the Carve Carrbridge Ceilidh later that evening.

There is also a trophy for the People’s Choice – the best carving as voted for by visitors to the event, Carvers Choice – the best carving as voted for by the competitors –and Best New Entrant. Following the main competition there is also a Quick Carve, where competitors have just 30 minutes to create something special.

Carve Carrbridge organiser, Gavin Gerrard said: ‘The Carve is a massive event for Carrbridge and would not be possible without the dedicated band of volunteers, who work tirelessly to ensure everyone has a great day, and the many local and national business who sponsor it.

‘The standard of the competition and the variety of carvings just gets better each year and after last year’s stunning win by new entrant Raimondas Uzdravis I am really excited to see how this year’s newcomers do on the day!’

The event opens to the public at 10am with carving getting underway at 10.30am. All carvings created on the day are auctioned off at the end of the event following the prize giving (usually around 4.30pm).

As well as the carving competition there is a whole host of other attractions and stalls for spectators to enjoy as well as music from the Strathspey Pipe Band. Once again there are free shuttle buses from Station Road car parks.

There is a very high standard of entries at Carve Carrbridge

This year’s competitors are:

Arian Bois (Argentina): The first entrant to the competition from South America. Adrian is based in Villa Elisa, near Buneos Aires and has been carving wood for 10 years; although late last year he travelled to Sweden to work as part of the 26 person team carving the annual ice hotel there.

Alice Buttress (Scotland): Local artist / potter. Competed several times at novice standard before entering the competition as a Carver for the first time eight years ago. Back again this year to represent the village and the only lady contestant this year, Alice is the creator of the forest spirit that proudly stands at the Inverness / Grantown road junction and, in conjunction with husband Jeff, prepared the Bridge 300 carving in the public car park.

Anton Klijnsmit (Netherlands): A new entrant to the event who hails from Nieuw Beijerland in Holland, just south of Rotterdam. Anton started carving aged 16 as a hobby. Then in 2007 he came second in the Fasnacarving competition in Vaassen, Holland and moved to full time carving. He takes his inspiration from nature, ‘preferably from “our nature” as we can encounter it in the Netherlands, including pets, such as horses and dogs.

Craig Steele (Scotland): Craig has been coming along for a number of years now to watch the event before picking up his saws to show what he’s made of.

Dr David Roberts (Wales): Sixth year in the competition, David is a full time wood sculptor who originally hails from Portlethen near Aberdeen. He trades as Dervish Carvings.

Garry Shand (Scotland): Garry entered the event for the first time in 2009. A comparative local, Garry is from Huntly in Aberdeenshire. He typically carves animal forms, is inspired by creatures from mythology and fantasy, and also creates stunning furniture and signs. This is his tenth visit to the event.

Garry Turler (Wales): The second year for Garry at this event. AKA Wildboar Carvings, Garry is from Swansea and is a prolific chainsaw artist providing hand carvings and more.

Iain Chalmers (Scotland): Another local lad, this time from just up the road in North Kessock, Iain has been a regular at the event for many years now. Affectionately known as ‘Husky Boy’ Placed fourth in 2005, third in 2006 and again in 2008, before securing first place back in 2010 and held the line until Pete Bowsher stole a march on him to secure first place for three years in a row. Iain is the creator of many of the wooden sculptures to be found in and around the Strath and up on Cairngorm Mountain. This is his 14th visit.

Ian Williams (Wales): Attending the event for a third year, Ian comes from North Wales where he grew up on a farm, leading to an early introduction to chainsaws. All his carvings are made from trees which have either fell naturally or need to be felled for woodland management purposes and his aim is to try to ‘make the trees come back to life with all of the beauty of the wood showing through’.

Igor Kucera (Czech): Igor comes from the Czech Republic. He was our first entrant from there back in 2015 and is back again for more speed carving fun. He is ‘on tour’ with fellow carver Wladek from Poland.

James Elliot (British): A Glasgow-based Wood Sculptor working with Sustainably sourced timber and a new entrant to the event.

John Hayes (Ireland): John is a talented carver from Waterford in Eire and is entering the event for the first time. He recently got himself into the Guinness Book of Records by carving a 23m long Viking sword from a single tree. The design John produced was of a wooden Viking sword engraved with the tale of the Norman warriors first arriving in Ireland and the tales of their battles since and is the largest timber sculpture made from a single piece of wood in the world.

Jonny Stableford (Scotland): ‘Jonny Chainsaw’ as he’s known comes from Lintlithgow near Edinburgh. He is a full time arborist and is entering the event for the ninth time.

Josh Dagg (Canada): Josh hails from Aylmer, near Ottowa in Canada. Aged 19 he started a career as a professional log house builder, but also found the world of wood carving and with the encouragement of his parents made a life built around both. This is his fourth visit to the event.

Martin Kalman (Slovakia): A newcomer to Carve Carrbridge, Martin hails from Horehronie in Slovakia and has been carving for some 11 years now. Back in 2007 Martin was a permanent member of the opera choir, but found that working with wood excited him so much that he turned his back on music to become a woodcarver.

Michael Tamoszus (Germany): Michael comes from Herrenberg on the edge of the Black Forest in Germany and is entering the event for the sixth time. Michael won best new entrant in 2009.

Mike Burgess (Scotland): A newcomer to Carve Carrbridge last year, Mike comes from Cheshire and is the son of the legendary Tim Burgess. His work ranges from small pieces 2 feet high to very large bespoke pieces and includes owls, dogs, badgers, foxes, rocking horses, tree houses and garden benches.

Pete Bowsher (Scotland): Winner in seven out of 13 years!

Roni MacDonald (Scotland): Roni is from Oban and has participated in every competition bar one so far. He remains hopeful of secure a place on the podium, but claims his downfall as being too easily led astray in the Cairn Hotel bar by his fellow competitors!

Thomas Earing (USA): A newcomer to the event Thomas comes from Maple Valley in Colorado, USA. Thomas sculpts animals, totem poles, and even the busts of famous people from discarded wood. The Colorado native has been chainsaw carving for 12 years.

Tim Burgess (England): A Cheshire based carver Tim is entering the event for the ninth time. Tim took third place in 2009 and is regularly in the ‘medals’ at other events. In a previous life Tim was a Chief Superintendent at Greater Manchester Police before the call of the saw took him into a new arena.

Tim Klock (USA): Tim is ranked first place in his home state of Maryland and 16th in the USA. Tim was a contractor and roofer before taking up carving on a full time basis and only ventured out of North America for the first time in 2011 to share his talents with the rest of the world.

Tom Harris-Ward (Scotland): New competitor in 2013. Tom has been carving for 12 years, but first used a chainsaw when he was just nine years old, as his dad worked in the forestry sector. He mainly carves Scottish wildlife, but have carved all sorts of things in the past from models of peoples cars, to a life size North Sea commercial diver. He was placed second in 2015.

Wladek Ligocki (Poland): Overall winner in 2016, Wladek is once again on tour with fellow carver Igor and back at Carve Carrbridge for more chainsaw fun.

For more information visit the Carve Carrbridge website.