A mass of warm, humid air rose and collided against a wall of higher, cooler air. The air masses wrestled in the lower atmosphere, whirled into a vortex, tilted upward and gave birth to a violent tornado. The twister ripped across Stringer’s Ridge toppling trees like dominoes and snapping the trunks of grand hardwoods as if they were No. 2 pencils. Within 60 seconds, the peaceful, treefilled landscape of the ridgeline was torn asunder.
Randy Whorton and Carla Pritchard examine downed trees at Lula Lake.“It was disturbing to see the devastation left behind on Stringer’s Ridge,” explains Randy Whorton, executive director of Wild Trails, an organization that promotes the use, expansion and protection of trails in the greater Chattanooga area. “Beautiful, old trees were down everywhere. It was such a waste.”
But standing amid the felled hardwoods, Whorton hatched an innovative idea – an idea combining nature and art. He pondered reclaiming some of the timber and commissioning woodworkers, carvers, furniture makers and sculptors to transform the raw wood into magnificent pieces of log art.
Log art – also known as raw wood art, trail art and tree sculptures – is gaining popularity throughout the nation. Indeed, the Internet brims with images of whimsical carvings of owls, eagles, bears, totems and mythological creatures sculpted by skilled artisans with chainsaws, chisels and planes.
CALLING ALL WOODCARVERS AND CRAFTSMEN
Organizers are looking for 10 artists to participate in the Wild Trails Stump Art Show.”We’d like the exhibition to draw artists and craftsmen who have the ability to work with large pieces of raw wood,” notes Anne Willson, executive director of Chattanooga’s Association for Visual Arts. “We are looking for artists who can see and further the beauty of their starting material and are inspired by the opportunity to create on site or have their work sited in the woods.” To be considered, artists and craftsmen must submit a brief bio and digital examples of their work to the AVA offices by 5 p.m. on June 29.For more information, organizers have posted a detailed Call for Work at RiverRocksChattanooga.com and AVArts.org.