Chainsaw artist Ted Travers creates a buzz in Tryon

Written and photographed by Michael O’Hearn

Drive by Tryon Mountain Hardware in Lynn and you might be lucky enough to see local woodcarving artist Ted Travers working on his latest creation in his “workshop” in the parking lot.

You might also suddenly think it’s snowing outside after seeing all of the sawdust flying around in the air as Travers uses his chainsaw like a paintbrush to deftly carve a log down into one of his many creative pieces, such as a bear, fireplace mantel or bench.

A native of the Branson, Missouri area, Travers said he grew up around woodcarvers and enjoyed going to Silver Dollar City to watch them wave their chainsaws like magic wands to create new works of art out of trees.

His days as a woodcarver began when he was 17 years old on a beach in Florida.

“I had carving tools and carving experience since I was a child and I moved down to Florida to see if I could make a living out of it,” Travers said. “I sat on the beach, and after about a week, I had run out of money. I only sold a couple of carvings so it wasn’t looking too good.”

His profession took a turn in the right direction when a man approached him and asked how much it would cost to buy all of the pieces Travers had in his inventory. At the time he had mainly seashells and turtle carvings, about 25 pieces in the collection.

At first, Travers thought the man had to be joking but, as it turns out, he was building a restaurant and wanted to use Travers’ pieces as part of the décor.

From there, Travers launched his business, Adventures in Art, Inc., and he knew he would make a career out of it after meeting with the restaurant builder.

“I said to myself if this guy wants top dollar for all of my carvings to use in his restaurant, I think I’m going to make it. I wasn’t sure if my skill level was good enough to cold turkey make it. I was prepared to get a carpentry job if necessary to supplement as a part-time job,” Travers said.

Travers added that he didn’t always want to be just a woodcarver; he also wanted to be a priest.

“If you had asked me at the age of 5, and people on occasion did, I would say every time even still as a teenager, that I wanted to be a woodcarver and a priest,” Travers said. He was raised in the Catholic Church and at a Catholic school and “just thought the God thing was cool.”

“I had an interest in the God factor and asked all sorts of questions,” he said.

Being a woodcarver is something Travers said he “hit right on the head,” but he didn’t become a priest as an adult after all. He joined a non-denominational church at the age of 21 and he has had a hand in either starting or assisting men’s youth groups. He now works with the New Testament Christian Fellowship in Landrum and established a young adult group for the 18- to 30-year-olds.

“I almost got the priest part with just a little variation. I wanted to get married and have a family and I’m glad I did.”

The bears and Indian faces are two of Travers’ most popular pieces, but he also carves pieces like benches, mailboxes and fireplace mantels. He believes he is the only woodcarver within 100 miles to custom make mantels for sale.

He added he is available to go to people’s properties to collaborate with homeowners to determine what works best for their homes during the remodeling or building process.

“I’ve been making a lot of the bears because they are cute and adorable and they are really easy to make,” Travers explained. “Now that I am 57, I don’t have that 30-year-old amazing body that is resilient to pretty much anything, so in making these small bears I can use my small saws. Eventually I’ll have to stop making those.”

“If someone were to come to me and say they saw a piece the previous week and wanted me to make one exactly like that, I would say, ‘Sorry, I can’t,’ because each piece is unique. But I can make something similar,” Travers said.

“God basically made it, I just highlighted it in. My customers are 99 percent of the time excited, polite and nice. They dig what I’m doing and it’s really fulfilling as a job.” •