---
title: Carving New Life Into Dead Wood
date: 2024-05-07T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/carving-new-life-into-dead-wood"
section: Articles
---
# Carving New Life Into Dead Wood

*May 7, 2024* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> Alum’s Chainsaw Sculptures Celebrate Nature Throughout D.C. Area

*Image 50432257 1920x1080 — Colin Vale '13 carves a woodpecker with a chainsaw. His giant wood sculptures can be seen across the D.C. metro area, from public parks to private backyards.*

In the quiet woods of Brookville, Md., where deer peer out from behind trees and red-brick remnants of long-defunct Girl Scout campsites dot the landscape, a chainsaw roars into action.

The powerful buzz usually signals destruction: the swirl of sawdust in the air, the crash of branches hitting the ground.

But in Colin Vale’s gloved hands, the chainsaw becomes a precision tool, giving new life to dead sycamores and oaks as he transforms them into works of art. His oversized wood sculptures have sprouted throughout the D.C. metro area, depicting everything from a [two-headed giraffe](https://www.carvingcolin.com/two-headed-giraffe)in a Colesville front yard to a [pine cone and acorn rising out of intertwined maple seeds](https://www.carvingcolin.com/brookside-gardens) at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton.


*scaffolding surrounded tall wood sculpture in progress — Vale's Mt. Airy sculpture in progress*


*Wooden carved turtle*


*Colin Vale stands with a wood sculpture featuring birds and talks to a crowd*


Vale shares one of his sculptures featuring a cardinal, chickadee and Baltimore oriole.




**Topics:** [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Mechanical Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mechanical-engineering), [Arts](https://today.umd.edu/topic/arts)


**Units:** [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering)