NEIGHBORS: Carver turns to chain saw art for relaxation

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May 25, 2007

By Michele Deluca/delucam@gnnewspaper.com The Tonawanda News Fri May 25, 2007, 01:01 PM EDT

It’s probably good that he wasn’t watching a sword swallower when the inspiration hit.

As it was, a day at the fair more than a decade ago changed Karl Buryta’s life when he came across a man making sculptures with a chainsaw.

Watching the guy use the whirring, dangerous saw to make intricate cuts into a piece of lumber, Buryta was hooked. “I can do that,” he thought to himself.

He went back to his country home in Pendleton and picked up a hunk of wood and his chainsaw, setting off on a hobby that some call the most dangerous one of all.

“I had the wrong saw, the wrong chain and the wrong kind of wood. But I ended up making a red tail hawk, and someone bought it,” he said.

Over the years, under a little shed in his backyard, he has made all kinds of sculptures, from bears to fish, and most recently, a big sign that reads: “Go Sabres.” They line his front yard on Bear Ridge Road like sentries, silent testimony to Buryta’s passion.

And while it seems like a noisy, difficult pastime requiring great strength and dexterity to move the heavy saw around a stump of wood, Buryta says he finds it extremely relaxing, especially after a long day as a heavy equipment operator moving construction debris for Niagara County.

“I’ve made a lot of sawdust,” he said. “But I’ve noticed in the last two years I’ve really come a long way, using the proper saws, proper chains, different woods and talking to other chainsaw carvers.”

It’s the other carvers who have been the most help to him in his progression, including two of his carving friends, Rick Pratt of Corfu and Arthur Hilger of Lockport.

“They can teach me in 10 minutes what I’ve been trying for years to learn,” he said.

Over the last decade, Buryta seems to have found what most people are looking for, something to do with his free time that brings him joy and something to aspire to. “I’m not a master carver yet. I’ll know when I’m there. Some day. A couple years from now. I’m not in any hurry.”

In the meantime, this North Tonawanda High School graduate has a message he wants to pass along to some of his old friends. “Tell the class of NT from ’81 that Karl Buryta is doing fine,” he said.

Contact editor Michele DeLuca at 693-1000, ext. 157.

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