Bears in the Woods
Reported by Erik Smith
Web produced by Katie Owens

Angela Orr is a chainsaw artist. Video

No, she's not chip off the old block. Yes, she is a homemaker, a wife, a hard-working mom with a passion for chainsaws and bears. Bears that she sees in the woods -- the woods of dead trees, stumps, broken limbs -- well, anywhere she finds some good wood.

One of Angela's bears comes to life.

Angela Orr is a chain saw artist. What's a nice young mom like this doing with a mean, noisy, rip-slashing, nasty, tree-eating, bush-whacking saw with more teeth than a Grizzly bear? Well, she's looking for bears.

"When I started cutting it, I get the angle, and then, you know, and I said, 'What if you make a mistake?' There's never a mistake in carving with a chainsaw," Angela said. "You don't have to have all those paws."

Angela hard at work.

Angela has quite an assortment of chainsaws. After all, Michelangelo had a lot of chisels and brushes in his day. It shouldn't be a surprise that an artist of the new century would need a collection of cutting tools well suited for the variety of woods for the fine twists and turns that her eyes will find in search of those bears that hide in the swirling grain behind and around all those knot holes.

"They're my jewelry. They're my jewelry, you know. Diamonds are a woman's best friend? Chainsaws are mine," Angela said.

When Angela isn't making dinner or maybe painting the barn, she is usually on the road displaying her work at art shows. Yes, she sells her work at the shows or maybe she'll take a commission or two for somebody with a dead tree in their yard.

Sitting still? Well, that's definitely not one of Angela's favorite pastimes.

Some of Angela's creations.

"It's just something inside me. You know, it really does come from the heart. It's such a rewarding thing for me," she said.

Angela's saws don't just find bears in the woods, of course. It's just that bears are her favorite things to find and her artistic trademark.

The next time you are driving along a quiet road and you spot a bear clinging to the side of an old tree, you will know that Angela Orr of Fowlerville was probably in the neighborhood.

"It's like a musician. The more you practice, the better you get. You just practice and practice and practice. That's what I do. I get out here and it's like therapy for me. I love it," she said.

For more information, contact Angela Orr at True North Creations at 517-223-1770.

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