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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2017)
8 Wednesday, November 15, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Father and son pursue wood carving By Jodi Schneider McNamee Correspondent Paul Stark is a nationally renowned wood carver. His son Jon is carving out a name for himself in the same trade. Patricia Molesworth, who has owned Village Interiors Home Furnishings and Design Center since 1991, is longtime friends with Paul Stark. “We raised our kids together and Paul’s son Jon, also a chainsaw sculptor, is very good friends with my son,” said Molesworth. “Over a year ago Jon began bringing in his handcrafted benches in my shop and now we are very fortunate to have carved wood sculptures from both Paul and Jon.” Paul has worked with wood his whole life. “My father was in the woodworking business, so it was natural for me to want to be around wood,” said Stark. In 1983, after attend- ing the Portland Museum art school, Stark moved to Sisters and worked with mas- ter wood carver J. Chester “Skip” Armstrong, sanding his sculptures. “I figured out that I could maneuver a chainsaw pretty well, so I branched out on my own,” he said. In 1985 Stark created his first chainsaw carving of a sea lion while on a trip to Oklahoma. “Next I sculpted a giraffe for my mother and it just morphed from there,” Stark told The Nugget. Stark received some noto- riety after carving a wood sculpture for someone who bought a log home from Oregon Log Homes at the tail end of the 1980s. “After that it was mostly through word-of-mouth, and now I have pieces in just about every state except Alaska,” he said. Stark lives half of the year in Sisters and the other half in New York, where he does commission pieces. His most recent chainsaw project was a recognition of Lake George, New York’s area of the French and Indian War history. The 24-foot long sculpture depicts Robert Rogers, who commanded the famous Roger’s Rangers, and five Mohicans paddling a birch-bark-style canoe. The canoe sculpture was unveiled at Lake George Lakefront Walkway last September. Stark consulted with mem- bers of the French and Indian War Society to ensure the his- torical accuracy of his details. “It was the most involved three-dimensional piece I’ve ever created,” Stark said. Stark’s son Jon, who seems to be “a chip off the old block,” moved to New York to work with his dad after graduating from Sisters High School in 2000. “I’d been cleaning up dad’s sawdust my whole life, and at some point, I picked up the tool, tried it and decided PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER MCNAMEE The individual work of woodcarvers Paul and Jon Stark is featured at Village Interiors. that I enjoyed wood carving,” Jon said, chuckling. “In New York we both worked on carvings together for one of my dad’s cli- ents, the Long Island Jewish Hospital. They gave me my first big break as a sculptor by letting me carve sea shells for a project for the hospital.” Word-of-mouth is also getting around for Jon Stark. He recently carved a beauti- ful larger-than-life cougar for Mountain View High School in Bend, where his wife, Gillian, teaches science. Two years ago, a light- ning storm brought down an old pine tree at the front of the school, leaving behind a stump. And Jon volunteered to carve a mountain lion sculpture out of the donated piece of pine. “It’s displayed outside on the stump of the original tree. I couldn’t have done it with- out Dad’s help,” he said. Featured side-by-side in Village Interiors Home Furnishings are two beau- tifully carved wood sculp- tures of eagles, one created by Jon and one created by Paul. Both are chain-sawed from the same old ponder- osa pine tree, one that died and was cut down in front of Bi-Mart. The artists noted that they did four carvings out of that one tree. Village Interiors is located at 382 E. Hood Ave. Celebrate Fall… Sarah Conroy, Chiropractor Est. 2002 Sisters Owned Prevent • Heal • Feel Better Feeling down and tired this fall? Shorter days and too much raking, hauling, chopping…come in for our combo therapy and feel better again. Call 541-588-2213 392 E. Main Ave. | www.sisterschiropractor.com Shena Fields LMT#7439 | Harmony Tracy LMT# 21211 …with an award-winning breakfast or lunch at Th e Cottonwood Café. Th urs.-Tues., 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. 403 E. Hood Ave. | 541.549.2699 Take time for All The Bells & Whistles ! s e l mi Computerized || LCD Display || Needle Threader || Automatic thread cutter Needle stop up/down || 310 stitch patterns, including 84 decorative stitches S Sisters Dental is committed to your family’s dental health! — Exceptional Health, Prevention & Aesthetics — Ben Crockett, D.D.S. p 541-549-9486 f 541-549-9110 410 E. Cascade Ave. • P.O. 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