Turning disaster into art, wood carver makes sculptures from trees downed by Fiona

Mike Palmer and his fianc Charmaine Rozee were devastated whenpost-tropical storm Fiona brought down thegiant poplar tree that had stood tall for nearly 90 yearson their property.

"That tree was our tree," said Rozee.Abracket that held thefamily nameplate hadbecome embedded in thewood over the years.

Instead of chopping it all up for firewood, Palmer tooka piece to a wood carver he came across in Peggys Cove.

"I thought it would be a really cool time to say, look, the tree is not really gone," said Palmer.

He asked for a sculpture of a dolphin his fianc's favourite animal and decided to surprise her with it.

Rozee said when she first laid eyes on the creation, "itdropped me to my knees."

The carver, Jay MacKay, runshis own wood workshop calledDaVinci in Wood. He saidPalmer wasn't the only personwho brought hima piece of a family tree damaged by the Septemberstorm.

MacKay said it's the first timeclients have supplied the logs he uses to carve from.

So far, he has carved three Fiona commissions with his chainsawa heron, a dolphin, and his latest, an owl.

"What really keeps me going is people's reactions," said MacKay,sittingin his wood shop surrounded by sculptures, his shoes covered in sawdust.

The owl was made froma piece of an elm tree that was uprooted on Kevin English's property in New Glasgow. His father-in-law had planted it from seedwhenEnglish's daughter was a baby.His father-in-lawpassed away last year just before Christmas.

"When the hurricane came and blew the tree down, it's really upset my wife," English said. "It got completely uprooted, and there was nothing we could do."

English said the sculpture is a Christmas present to his wife.

"She likes owls quite a bit, so I figured it'd be nice to have something for her that her father grew," he said.

MacKay's father was also a carver, and a folk artist who inspired him to start carving at the age of five. A few years ago, MacKay quit his carpentry job to work as a carver full-time.

He's created hundreds of sculptures, sentimental pieces depictingfamily dogs, for example, or of abeloved grandfather who was a fisher. Other pieces he's madewere used as props for television.

"For me, as an artist, well, it's a passion," he said.

N.S. wood carver makes sculptures from trees downed by Fiona

2 years ago

Duration 2:46

Jay MacKay says that after post-tropical storm Fiona hit, clients started bringing in pieces of wood from trees that held sentimental value for them that had been downed by the storm.