Meet Tim Kuenning. Although most people probably don’t know him by name, anyone who has ever visited the Family Fun Zone during an FLW tournament has undoubtedly seen the man in action. After all, he’s a pretty difficult character to miss. Clad in his familiar bright green and purple Poulan work shirt, Kuenning can usually be found standing ankle deep in sawdust inside a cramped mesh tent with pieces of discarded logs lying all around him. But while the sight of Kuenning in action is impressive, it is more likely than not that you’ll hear the Ohio resident well before you even get within 50 yards of his work station.
After all, the noise of Kuenning’s chainsaw serves as an unmistakable beacon for both fans and curiosity seekers alike.
Cut to the Family Fun Zone in Florence, Ala., last June. The heat is nearly overbearing. The crowd is milling around. However, Kuenning seems unfazed by the heat or the commotion that surrounds him. In fact, Kuenning – dressed in jeans, work boots and a short-sleeve Poulan shirt – is both lost in concentration as well as a blizzard of flying sawdust. In short, he’s in his element.
Using a chainsaw that sounds like it’s been on overdrive for the better part of an afternoon, Kuenning slices and dices his way through a massive block of wood in the same way a Japanese sushi chef might slice his way through a 50-pound piece of hamachi tuna. However, the final results are just as impressive. In the end, after several long hours of work, Kuenning produces a hand-crafted wood sculpture of an American bald eagle that seems to embody equal parts passion, northwoods folk art as well as a little slice of good, old-fashioned Americana.
But while his artistic work is legendary, not everyone knows the whole story behind Tim Kuenning – the 52-year-old who, when he’s not carving, works full-time at a municipal power and electric company located near his hometown of New Bremen, Ohio.
So, how did Kuenning get his start? Well, we here at FLWOutdoors.com were curious as well. And, after playing a little phone tag, we finally managed to catch up with Kuenning in the hopes that he could provide us with a glimpse into the unique world of chainsaw wood carving. The following are excerpts from that interview:
Q&A with Tim Kuenning
FLWOutdoors.com: Tim, how in the world did you get into the business of wood carving in the first place?
Kuenning: It was about 25 years ago. At the time, I was a chainsaw dealer and I decided that for Halloween I wanted to try and carve a pumpkin out of wood for my son. It was the very first carving I’d ever attempted and it came out really good. Eventually, I kept it up and got good enough at it that the factory hired me to start doing demonstrations. I was later hired by Poulan – they saw my work – and because they had a sponsorship with the FLW Tour, they asked me to start going to shows and doing demonstrations for the Fun Zone.
FLWOutdoors.com: When did you start with the FLW Tour?
Kuenning: Five years ago at Lake Okeechobee was my very first FLW show. But when they called me up and asked me to go, I didn’t have any idea what FLW was at the time. But I went and had a great time, and it really evolved from there.
FLWOutdoors.com: How did your first FLW show go over with the public?
Kuenning: It was great. The first day I carved this big flying eagle, but when I was done I didn’t know what to do with it. I knew I couldn’t take it home because it was too big to take with me. And then (FLW Tour founder) Irwin Jacobs came by and saw it. He said, “Why don’t you give it away to the tournament-winning angler?” I thought it was a great idea, and that’s how that started. Later, I went up to Irwin and said I would like to carve a smaller eagle so I could give it away to one of the fans. (Jacobs) loved the idea and we’ve been doing it ever since. This year I finished my 35th FLW show, so that’s about 70 eagles right there.
FLWOutdoors.com: What do the anglers think of your work?
Kuenning: I think people really enjoy them. Over the years, I’ve had quite a few fishermen ask me if they can buy an eagle from me. But I always tell them that I won’t sell them one. If they want an eagle, I tell them they have to go out and win a tournament. The guys will come up to me all of the time and say, “I’m fishing for the eagle today.” I know the fishermen are really fishing for the money, but I think the eagle does kind of hold some prestige for the guys. They seem to be really proud of their carvings when they get them.
FLWOutdoors.com: How long does it take to perfect a design?
Kuenning: I can’t say that I’ve ever had a perfect carving. Every time I make a carving, I can sit back later and show you about 100 mistakes that I’ve made. Now, most people won’t notice those mistakes, but I can find them because I’ve been doing this for so long. But I can also say that I’m glad that none of them come out perfectly because that makes every carving I do unique. No two carvings are ever alike; they’re like snowflakes.
FLWOutdoors.com: How does the artistic process evolve for you?
Kuenning: I really enjoy wood carving because I can express myself in a very artistic way. It might surprise some people, but I’ve never really been able to draw anything very well. I just didn’t have the talent for that. But when I see a piece of wood, I’m able to visualize my carvings right there in the wood. If I can’t visualize it, I can’t carve it. It’s like I just see something in the wood and chip away everything else that doesn’t belong there. It’s kind of hard to explain.
FLWOutdoors.com: How many carvings do you think you’ve done over the years?
Kuenning: I’ve probably carved close to a thousand or more.
FLWOutdoors.com: How long does it take to finish one carving?
Kuenning: It all depends. But if you use the eagles I carve at FLW shows for example, those take me about six or seven hours. I can do the smaller eagles in about two to three hours. But it’s a lot of pressure because you really only have one shot at it and you can’t screw it up. And I only have about one and a half days to do those two sculptures for each tournament.
FLWOutdoors.com: What is your favorite design/sculpture to carve?
Kuenning: I probably have about 75 to 80 different designs, but for me, I really like doing human sculptures. I do cowboys, Indians, football players, lumberjacks and even anglers holding up fish. For me, the human form is really neat. Human sculptures are also my favorite type because you can keep changing them around to make them different. With an eagle, I only can do about three different designs. But with human carvings, there are endless possibilities. The other thing is that I really like my carvings to look realistic. Realism is very important to me.
FLWOutdoors.com: Do you have any preferences as far as the type of wood you most desire for your carvings?
Kuenning: I like working with oak. It cuts a little slower, but it looks really nice when it’s done. Oak has a really nice grain to it. But I’ll cut any type of wood except hickory. Hickory is just too hard and it really kills your arms. It’s also really tough on the equipment.
FLWOutdoors.com: Speaking of equipment, what type of safety equipment do you employ?
Kuenning: I use safety goggles, hearing protection, safety boots and chaps for my legs, which are made out of a ballistic Kevlar/nylon (hybrid).
FLWOutdoors.com: Obviously carving is somewhat of a dangerous profession. Have you had any accidents over the years?
Kuenning: I only cut myself one time. Basically, I was a little tired, and I let the saw get away from me. I was carving a sculpture for a show and a knot fell out of the wood – it was kind of a fluke – and caused the saw to kickback on me. I wound up cutting some tendons in my foot that required surgery. But had I not had my safety boot on, I probably would have cut my foot off. The funny thing was, I was at the same festival a year later, and some guy came up to me and said that he had videotaped the entire accident. He had it right there on film for me to see. To this day I’m still not sure I could have prevented that accident from happening. Like I said, it was kind of a fluky deal.
FLWOutdoors.com: Do you use a chainsaw exclusively for your carvings?
Kuenning: I can do whole carvings with just a chainsaw. But when I’m pressed for time, I’ll use some smaller equipment just to carve the eyes because the eyes are very difficult and time-consuming to do with just a chainsaw. But yes, if I have to, I can do the whole sculpture with just a chainsaw.
FLWOutdoors.com: Do you ever carve anything other than wood?
Kuenning: People ask me if I ever carve ice. I can, but I don’t like to do it because in a few hours all of your work disappears. For me, I like my art to last. That’s why I like working with wood.
FLWOutdoors.com: What are some of the more difficult aspects of carving?
Kuenning: The key is that you have to make the sculpture last. You always have to be thinking about the amount (weight) of wood on top of the sculpture because if it’s too heavy, the carving won’t support itself. For example, I can carve a beautiful blue heron with those really skinny legs, but it wouldn’t last two days because it wouldn’t be able to support the weight. That’s why you have to understand the physics of carving to be successful.
FLWOutdoors.com: When all is said and done, what gives you the most joy about your craft?
Kuenning: Seeing something creative emerge from a log is very rewarding. I also like the fact that these sculptures will be around long after I stop carving. Thirty or 40 years from now my kids might drive past a wood carving on somebody’s front lawn and say, “Gee, I wonder if dad carved that.” It’s a neat legacy and something I’m very proud of.