The Town of Orangeville and the Orangeville Business Improvement Area (BIA) have partnered to bring new tree sculptures to Orangeville as several artists demonstrate their skills in Alexandra Park July 7 and 8.

The town currently has 33 tree sculptures carved by artists from various parts of Ontario. During the Founders' Fair, four more sculptures will be created and subsequently placed on municipal boulevards.

The first female carver to participate in the Orangeville initiative, Bobbi Switzer of Atwood, will be one of the four carvers sculpting a new piece in Alexandra Park.

Ms. Switzer, who has a studio and sign shop in Atwood, near Listowel, says she's looking forward to participating in Orangeville's tree sculpture program. She loved art from an early age. "I was drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil."

Bobbi still remembers watching her father making a couple of chainsaw carvings and asking to try her hand at it.

"I loved it," she says. "It took awhile to get used to the weight and skill of using a chainsaw."

Ms. Switzer likes to create people or characters in the wood, with most of her carvings taking two days to complete. Lately, carving has become a full-time job, although she also has her own sign business. People seek her out for her original sign design and artwork.

A graduate of Conestoga College in graphic design and advertising, she also illustrates children's books for a few publishers in the U.S. She is also a photographer, illustrator, painter and mural artist.

A mother of three, she says she has a supportive husband, and her two oldest children have shown an interest in carving.

For the Founders' Fair, Ms. Switzer plans to carve a woman with an eagle above her head almost like a totem-style idea. Since as far as she knows she's the only female carver in southern Ontario, she says it would be fitting to add a female carving to Orangeville's Art Walk of Tree Sculptures, with the eagle being symbolic of reaching new heights.

Ms. Switzer says that during an annual studio tour in April organized by the North Perth Artists, she had carvings in front of her sign shop and everyone was stopping to ask her if she had carved in Orangeville. "So I'm very proud to be part of this year's Orangeville carving team."

Her work can be seen at www.SwitzerSigns.ca and http://www3.sympatico.c a/bobbis

Rob McFaul is another carver who is new to Orangeville's Art Walk of Tree Sculptures. Originally from Peterborough, he and wife Lynn live in Toronto, although he does much of his carving on-site for private commissions or at a spot in Pickering. Mr. McFaul attended Bishop's University in Quebec where he studied drama and English, and he operates a networking business. The McFauls love the beauty of wood in its natural state. Trips to their Muskoka cottage often saw them browse through a store there admiring the log furniture and carvings.

One year the bears were proving troublesome so they learned that a big walking stick was an important tool to have along on their hikes.

Mr. McFaul sanded his first walking stick into a work of art and moved on to create a rustic log coat tree and then started creating log furniture. Rustic furniture making became a new hobby and then his wife encouraged him to try chainsaw carving.

He had been impressed by some carvings at Big Bear Lake in California and his wife had bought him a book on how to carve wood.

At the time, he didn't even own a chainsaw and felt he had no artistic ability. "My Grade 7 teacher told me I sucked at art so I never felt I was any good at art."

As soon as he tried chainsaw carving he was hooked. "I absolutely loved it, and I love the challenge it brings me of constantly creating something. For me, my favourite thing is to try new things; new creations... to let the wood suggest what it should be. We still affectionately refer to my first chainsaw carving as the 'pigdog'. It was supposed to be a bear."

Today, his favourite carvings are of bears and eagles. As primarily a technical person, Mr. McFaul likes the balance between artistic and the technical that comes with carving.

"You work with proportions and perspectives," he says. Mr. McFaul created a website to showcase his work: www.robsrustics. com . When he sells a carving or a piece of furniture, he invests in more tools.

The McFauls have a successful Quixtar business (selling goods and products over the Internet) which allows them to pursue other interests. They have two children and the family enjoys travelling around to different carving events and competitions.

Mr. McFaul plans to carve two owls perched on a tree in Alexandra Park July 7 and 8 as part of the Founders' Fair.

The third new face to Orangeville's tree carving program will be Paul Frenette of Kitchener. Originally from the Windsor area, Mr. Frenette graduated from St. Clair College with an electrical engineering technologist degree and is a computer networking systems consultant. Carving wood has become a hobby for him.

Mr. Frenette says he doesn't draw or paint but he has a passion for creating sculptures out of wood.

It all started as a fluke. On the day that an ornamental cement statue of an Easter Island head was stolen from his garden Mr. Frenette was cutting firewood and he just started carving a face out of the wood. He then set out to replace the garden statue and he created a wooden sculpture.

"I found I liked doing it and I bought more tools. I started producing all kinds of sculptures and selling them by word of mouth and on my website."

His specialty is medieval sculptures - gargoyles, dragons, wizards, etc. The time it takes to create each sculpture varies according to the detail put into it. He has recently started working in clay as well.

Mr. Frenette says he knew about the Orangeville Art Walk of Tree Sculptures and he had been hoping to participate in the program.

Jim Menken of Mono will be the only local carver at the Founders' Fair event, and the only one with some existing pieces in Orangeville's Art Walk of Tree Sculptures.

Mr. Menken is known for his elaborate carvings. He carved "The Judge" on Zina Street, near the county courthouse, "The Farmer" on Broadway, "The Conductor" on Town Line near the rail yard, the eagle on Clara Street, the eagle and fish on Broadway, the robin in Greenwood Cemetery, and the Prince of Wales on First Street (formerly known as the Prince of Wales Road).

Born in Thornhill, the Mono resident, a former teacher, saw a fellow carving at the Norval Festival a few years ago and figured that was something he could do. It's an occupation that fosters his love of the outdoors and his love of art - and it's a hobby that people have come to appreciate.

"I started off dabbling with the carvings but it has really taken off," Mr. Menken says. "I have always been interested and involved in art, from water colours to drawing, but it's neat to be able to take a dead tree and create something new again with the gift that God has given me."

He starts off with a chainsaw, moves to an angle grinder with a sanding disk, and then introduces hand tools for the finer details. Some of that detail work, such as wings and feathers, he says he learned from members of the Headwaters Carvers. "I like to do realistic stuff as much as possible," he says. "I challenge myself to make it as real as possible."

Mr. Menken lives in the north end of Mono with wife Debbie, and children Spencer, Lyndsey, and Cameron. Before coming to Mono several years ago, he taught in the Woodbridge area, and more recently at the Christian School. He is a graduate of York University, majoring in physical education and sociology. He earned his teaching degree at Redeemer College in Hamilton.

Mr. Menken can be reached at 925-9656 or jmenken@jimmenken.com. His website is www.jimmenken. com. He plans to carve a Celtic cross in an existing butt log in Alexandra Park July 7 and 8.