By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Thanks to expert chainsaw carver Mike Winia, the eagle has landed on Crerar Drive in Chatham.
Make that four of the big birds to be exact, plus an owl and a momma black bear with two cubs.
That’s what Winia has created from an old sugar maple located in Brad and Colleen Fauser’s front yard.
“It’s a way to think of something that’s died, to give it a new story,” the artist told The Voice, adding the sculpted wood depicts the “power, unity and connection” exemplified by bears and eagles.
“I specialize in realism,” Winia explained. “The eagles and bears show strength.”
The carving, which took between three weeks to a month to complete this fall, has two mature eagles and a nest with two eaglets. The bears are climbing the tree and the owl is peering out from a hole.
It’s become a neighbourhood conversation piece and a favorite display for local children. As word spreads, more people are coming to see this unique art hewn from a tree.
The Fausers came up with the idea of repurposing the 100-year-old tree, they felt was in danger in falling on their house. They contacted Winia, who also runs a woodlot management company, to come up with the design. The carver was able to take down the tree, shaping it to fit the couple’s vision.
Utilizing scaffolding, he removed the bark and preserved and sealed the wood.
According to Brad Fauser, the pair wanted to “do the old tree justice.
“We both like eagles and bears,” Brad said, adding the carving is “something everyone can enjoy. It seemed like the right thing to do.”
Colleen Fauser notes the one-of-a-kind carving serves the old maple well, leaving an enduring symbol of nature rather than being cut up and ground down into a stump.
“There was no better way to preserve the historical beauty of this tree than to embrace and showcase the majestic beauty of the eagles and what they represent,” she said. “But it’s bittersweet.”
The couple returned to Chatham-Kent in 2021 and is retired, having lived in Southampton for a number of years. Brad retired from Bruce Power where he worked as a supervising nuclear operator, while Colleen was a registered nurse.
They came back to be near family.
The Fausers are pleased with their unusual lawn decoration, agreeing they hired the right guy for the job. Winia, a Bothwell resident, has been a fixture on the high-level international chainsaw carving circuit for more than a decade, coming in third place in the world championships in 2017.
A graduate of John McGregor Secondary School, the 47-year-old had made his home near London but also came back to Chatham-Kent during the pandemic.
“I moved back home to be with the hometown people who I grew up with,” Winia said. “They appreciate what I do.”
Winia, who also paints, sketches and whittles, is one of only a handful of carvers who uses only a chainsaw in his work, foregoing chisels and finer tools.
“The only tool I used was a chainsaw,” he said of his latest creation. “I didn’t even use a sander.”
