TRAVERSE CITY — Just in time for October, a local artist is having his shot at bringing an infamous tree back from the dead.
The cottonwood tree at the mouth of the Boardman River in Traverse City died earlier this year.
The city was forced to remove the tree, but the stump is allowing the cottonwood to come back to life.
The city reached out to Scott Chupp about a month ago.
He has been working on it for nine days.
Scott has been a wood carver since he was 12 years old, and says that while there is no time frame for how long the sculpture will last, he thinks age will make it even better.
He said that they may put some protective coating on it, but it also looks cool to let it naturally gray and give it character.
Scott and the city worked together to pick the design of a trout and sturgeon.
However, carving a tree is different than carving something else.
Scott said “The tree really dictates what it’s going to be. So, yes, I had some drawings, but, you know, as you go into the project, the grain in the wood and you find a soft spot, so you just had to kind of improv the whole full thing as you go. ”
When asked is he felt a bit like Dr. Frankenstein with this talent, Scott said this.
“This tree was dead. And, you know, instead of just making it a stump, we thought we’d get some more life out of it and make something beautiful for the community. So, as you can see, it’s alive.”
Scott plans to have the sculptures finished Friday, and invites everyone to come out and see!
