Carver Wins National Contest
By Eau Claire Leader-Telegram Staff 12/19/2008 

Robert Giede of Menomonie is best known for making intricate jewelry, but his recent work with a chain saw and white pine stump won a national contest held by Browning Arms. 

The contest invited people to design Browning's Buckmark logo and send in a photo of the design. 

Entries included photos of tattoos, carved pumpkins, cakes and even an aerial photo of a corn maze with a Buckmark logo. 

The photos were posted on the company's Web site, and visitors voted on their favorites. 

Giede's stump was picked as one of the favorites out of about 900 submissions. 

He won a Browning rifle. 

More importantly, for his Robert Giede Designs jewelry business, his name and work will be featured in national outdoor magazines. 

"The winner won their choice of a new rifle or shotgun, but for me the PR was more important," he said. 

He made his design out of a stump that was left after a storm blew over the tree at his cabin on the Chippewa River, upriver from Flater's Resort.

Talya with her Graduating Class Left to right: Dean Gannon, Jeremy McCrank, Brian Johnson Instructor, Talya Selbst, and Dan Deforge

As a result, wood resources are limited and expensive. Wood working too, is far from wide spread as in the U.S. But, wood is a wonderful material, always fashionable, in construction, furniture, arts and crafts, all over the world, including Israel. I run a small woodworking school in Israel, offering a wide range of fine woodworking techniques.

My personal choice is wood sculpting and carving. For both knowledge and inspiration, I often turn to American books, and American websites.

This is how I came across the Wisconsin School of Chainsaw Carving, about six months ago. As outrageous as it seemed, I hesitantly made contact and ended up coming for a five day course last April (2005). It was worth the trip, time and expense.

I had a wonderful week, learning to do what I like, just much bigger, using a chainsaw.

Brian, who ran the course, is an extremely talented and knowledgeable man. He was very generous with his abilities and professional know how's. The whole Johnson family was there to help us get the best out of the course. They are warm and welcoming people.

My only complaint is that is snowed most of the week; it was beautiful but very cold.

I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to get personally acquainted with the chainsaw, I am sure this is to be a long lasting friendship.

Talya Selbst
D.N. Shimshon, Israel

What a joy! The class was one of the most fun learning experiences I believe I've ever had. Doris and Brian are exceptional people. They go above and beyond to make sure that you leave their school with the ability and self confidence to take your carving in any direction; whether it be a business or hobby. I would highly recommend to anyone that is interested in carving that they take this course and meet these nice people. It's worth every penny! Call me with any questions - I'd be happy to talk with you.

Thanks again guys,
Dan DeForge
Atlantic Mine, MI
1-906-482-7032

Hi Guys!

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the class. I learned a lot and has given me the confidence I need to do some larger pieces! I also met some great quality people. Keep your passion for life!

Joy Simonsen
Target National Acct. Mgr.
Novartis Consumer Health TC. Bur
 

I enjoyed all kinds of projects where I design and make things out of wood. Usually, it's building or fixing things in and around the house. But, I'm always trying new projects that require different skills and use different medium. After seeing some of the roadside chainsaw carvings on a recent trip in Wisconsin, my interest was peaked to try this new craft. I was a little reluctant since I am not artistic. My job and background is in computer networking at General Motors Corp., which is very technical and structured.

After talking with a friend, he looked on the Internet to find out where and what classes were available. After checking out several schools, we decided on the Wisconsin Chainsaw School of Carving near Hayward Wisconsin because of the unique and insightful techniques used in teaching the class.

Any instructor can show you how to hack wood, but it takes a very talented instructor to teach you an art that can be applied to any subject and have repeated excellent results. I've learned how to carve different subjects like bears and eagles with the understanding of how to use dimensions to see the subject in a piece of wood. I used this technique to later carve a wolf after leaving the class. But most importantly, I learned how to recover from mistakes that can render your piece useless.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class. I highly recommend this class to anyone looking for a new hobby or career. Brian, thank you for a wonderful experience and your personal attention.

Frank Estevez