Wood carving is a most difficult art form, but doing it with a chainsaw is that much more difficult. It takes brawn, patience and a great deal of creativity and stamina. It’s a unique niche in the art world, and a rare one at that. But in Bird Creek, there’s not one but two such specialized artists—and they are brothers.Jason and Jordan Anderson have a passion for chainsaw carving. They also come from a family of master woodworkers and log homebuilders from Minnesota. Their father, Greg, is one of the premiere log homebuilders in the state (Alaska Log Structures). And with all that left over wood from building log homes, it’s a natural fit for the brothers to utilize a plentiful raw material for the creation of art.
“We have access to the material,” said Jason, “and also growing up, my dad being a log home builder, we learned a lot from him as far as chainsaw skills and how to cut wood and how to work with a grain of a certain piece of wood. So, basically it started with him. And my dad was always expressing the point of paying attention to details; he’s always paid attention to details with his log homes, and that’s something we’ve done with our artwork. We really pay attention to the details in our artwork. So, basically we’ve been inspired by him. My dad’s always been a hard worker, so we get the work ethic from him and put a lot of passion into it.”
Although they both carve the traditional animals—moose and bears—for Jordan, his subject of expertise is marine wildlife. He said he always enjoyed watching marine animals when he was young and liked to draw them.
“When I got to carving, one of the first things I carved was a 13-foot Orca,” he said, out in front of their outdoor gallery in front of the grand log home his father is building in Bird off the Seward Highway. “It ended up turning out better than I expected, and that’s kind of how this whole thing got started.”
The Anderson brothers come from a family with over 100 years of wood preserving and carving experience, and the brothers attribute their natural inclination and quick acquisition of the wood sculpture form to his family background in Minnesota.
The two brothers also got innovated with their art, creating and carving the “beer bear,” and idea Jason conjured up. His brother designed the beer bottle opener under the bear’s right paw.
“People like to have bears and moose, something decorative in their yard,” said Jason. “But this is something they can bring inside or put on their deck, and it’s a conversation piece and something they get utilization out of.”
The typical time to take a block of wood with bark on it and carve it into a “beer bear” is about an hour-and-a-half. The finished product requires wood burning, as well, adding depth to the piece, and taking away some of the hard long marks that a chainsaw can cause. Wood burning also adds a nice tone to the finished product.
Jordan, 21, started his chain saw carving last year and his brother, Jason, 26, followed suit this summer. Jordan has a large six-and-a-half foot sculpture of a bear scratching its back on a post in front of Alaska Wild Berry Products in Anchorage. It’s one of the larger carvings he’s done, but most are a few feet tall, like the “beer bears.”
One of the more exotic requests Jordan has had is a pelican for a customer in Florida.
“I get all kinds of request like that,” he said. “One thing I did do, was a fish basically native to Minnesota, and that’s a Walleye, for a neighbor of mine here in Bird Creek. He was originally from Minnesota, so it’s kind of a small world.”
Jordan is also working on a large wood carving for Bob Dilly, who owns property in Whittier. Jordan will carve six pieces from a 40-foot Sitka Spruce log that they believe floated up from Wrangell onto Dilly’s property. From the wood, which is about six foot thick, Jordan will carve two sculptures for the city of Whittier, one piece for Dilly, and a nine-foot sculpture for himself. He plans to carve either Humpback or Orca whale sculptures for the city, and a nine-foot Grizzly bear sculpture for Dilly. And for him, he plans to carve a mountain scene, tapering down into an ocean scene at the bottom, and a native man coming out of the backside of the mountain scene.
Sales for woodcarving are seasonal businesses, basically from the beginning of June to the end of August. Although, 50 percent of the customers are from Alaska, especially southcentral, said Jason.
Jordan plans to devote himself full-time to chainsaw carving and hopes to do it for the rest of his life, and aspires to take his art to Hawaii utilizing four or five species of exotic wood. As for his brother Jason, he will continue to work at his father’s company while combining his passion for wood carving in the summertime.
You can view some of Jordan Anderson’s artwork online at: jordanscustom.com.