An echo chainsaw, a piece of wood, and out comes a nationwide recognized piece of artwork.
For 29 years, Oregon native, Jerry Hendricks has traveled across the southwest United States creating decorative art with only a piece of wood, an echo chainsaw and most importantly his creative talent.
Hendricks specializes in making wooden sculptures on site at fairs, echo product demonstrations and open houses for audiences to observe and enjoy.
While owning a body shop, Hendricks received the motivation to start this profession.
“I had a friend who did the same thing,” said Hendricks. “I would watch him and tell him what to do, so he told me I should just do it myself.”
Over the years Hendricks has made over 3,000 saguaro cacti, 230 eagles which have been numbered, and many other pieces, such as little fishermen. Hendricks also enjoys working on custom projects at the customer’s request.
Hendricks creates his sculptures out of mostly soft woods, including: yellow pine, eastern red cedar and mesquite.
He currently has a permanent location in Blanco, TX and travels to 10 shows a year, but has previously spent many years traveling fulltime.
He has been to Kingsville, 12 times and observers continue to come year after year to view his work.
“He does good work,” said Derick Schultz, a mechanic at A. C. Lawn and Garden. “He’s defiantly worth coming to watch. When he’s working, it looks like he is just hacking away, but then when he’s finished, something cool comes out of it.”
Hendricks’ work will be on display Friday Mar. 16 and Saturday Mar. 17 at A. C. Lawn and Garden located at 605 N. 6th Street, at the intersection of Santa Gertrudis and 6th. He encourages everyone to come stop by.
“Its fun to watch him do his work,” said Susan Webb. “You get a deeper appreciation of his talent while watching him work.”