Colin Vale, a 32-year-old Olney resident, donned safety glasses and protective clothing as he aimed his chain saw down deep into the branch of a Linden Oak tree that had called Montgomery County its home for the past 300 years.
The white oak tree in Bethesda died a few years ago, and Montgomery County Parks decided to cut it down this summer and refurbish the wood.
Vale, or Carving Colin as he is known, was hired by Montgomery Parks Foundation to create a bench from a large branch. He is decorating it with carvings of a bison and an acorn from 300 years ago.
The main bench will face the fields at Ken-Gar Palisades Park in Kensington. A small seat behind it will face the basketball court.
Vale, a Sherwood High and University of Maryland graduate, started his career as a computer developer for a start-up company in San Francisco. But he didn’t like sitting in one place all day and decided to move on.
He reached out to a chainsaw artist in Virginia and spent one day learning “how not to get hurt,” what tools he needed and how best to create wood masterpieces. He ended the day with his first carved work, a small bear.
Vale expects to finish his creation in about a month and hopefully have it sat upon and enjoyed for years to come.
As large as the branch seems, it’s just a branch, said Montgomery Parks Senior Urban Forester Colter Burkes. “It’s puny.”
He described the Linden Oak as one of the county’s oldest trees whose trunk measured six-and-a-half feet across.
Other wood from the tree will be cut up in cross sections and sold Dec. 9 and 10 at Pope Farms Tree in Gaithersburg, Burkes said.
Vale’s other chainsaw art projects can be seen at Brookside Gardens and in Olney, Wheaton and Takoma Park.
— suzanne pollak (@SuzannePollak) October 2, 2023
