The largest piece of public art ever to grace the historic, wooded community of Washington Grove was unveiled Monday evening to a crowd of community members and local officials by a mechanical engineer turned chainsaw artist, Colin Vale, also known as “Carving Colin” of Olney.
Vale sculpted a 16-foot-tall statue of a hand holding a hummingbird on its fingertip. It was carved out of a dying Red Oak tree that’s estimated to be 80 to 100 years old from the town’s Woodward Park. Were it not for his knack for carving wood with a chainsaw, the tree would have been cut down into a stump, “which has no economic value or any value at all,” said Vale.
“So, the sculpture is probably the highest form of second life I think a tree could hope for,” he mused while standing in front of his yet-to-be-named piece of art.
Vale’s self-proclaimed title comes after just five years of practice, and a heartfelt decision to leave his lucrative career in engineering to follow his heart for art. His pivot began by taking up an unofficial apprenticeship with a local woodcarver and ordered some business cards, said the University of Maryland, College Park graduate.
“I joke with my parents about that because I was all set up for a government or a contractor kind of job—and then I quit to become an artist—and now it’s become the reliable job,” said Vale. “It’s really unfortunate for friends I have who are affected by, not just the shutdown, but the D.O.G.E.’ing. I mean, I can only joke as much as I try to joke through the tears,” said Vale.
His carvings over the past five years have proven to be a purposeful pivot, as Vale’s art has been featured at prestigious venues, such as the Kennedy Center in recent years, as well as commissioned by both private and public clients, like the town of Washington Grove.
“We often call ourselves a town within a forest [and] the idea that the artwork would blend in with the town really caught our attention,” said Mayor John G. Compton at the unveiling ceremony.
So, three different sizes of chainsaws later, with a couple of angle grinders and a flame blowing torch, sander and finishing oil thrown into the mix, and Vale went to work on his latest creation. The sculpture took two months to carve, but it took a year from the first conversation with the town until the first cut because Vale has a waitlist.
“Real art takes time… and so they’ve put up with the delays,” said Vale.
Meanwhile, Washington Grove residents like Oscar Ramos, a high-school teacher who lives down the road from the sculpture, marveled at the public display of what wood would—and could be—once transformed into a work art.
“I love it. I mean, I love hummingbirds just as they are. So, to have a piece of public art like this to inspire the kids to spend more time in nature and appreciate the animals that we have here, I think it’s beautiful,” said Ramos.
And as for that mechanical engineering degree?
“Ask me who paid for it!,” quipped the artist’s mom, Debbie Vale, who was on hand with the dozens of other onlookers at the unveiling to see what her son had created.
“We knew all along that he’s always been artistic his whole life—never had any formal training,” she said, beaming with pride. “From drawing to sculpting to painting to—he’s just always had that knack. So, it didn’t really, totally surprise me when he decided to go this route.”
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