Post #226119 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Apr 11, 2006 6:50 AM

Wow, a whole new world opens up! Chainsaw carving events, motor cycle daredevils jumping over 40 running chainsaws, etc...very cool!

Jessie, you will be glad to hear that my new book "Tiki Modern and the Wild World of Witco" will answer many of your questions regarding William Westenhaver and his company, more so than my last tome, The Book of Tiki, which only hinted at his oeuvre with 5 pages. Nevertheless, that "hinting" (plus revealing the Elvis' Jungle Room connection) was enough to make "Witco" a buzzword in the Tiki community and on e-bay, and turn it into a highly collectable commodity.

I do believe that Bill Westenhaver is a pioneer in chainsaw carving, wielding the powertool like a paint brush, and that my new book (due out Aug/Sept.06) will help establish the artistic value of the form. I will reprint a couple of the pages from his instruction booklet, and also had a friend draw up a tongue-in-cheek "Evolution of Tiki Carving" chart which ends in the chainsaw as the main tool of that modern art form.

Here on TC you will find lots of interesting info regarding carving with powertools in the "Creating Tiki" forum. I do not know about Ken Kaiser or Mike McVay and would love to see some of their works. Bill started doing his stuff in the very early 60s, so he might be slightly ahead of McVay. The commercial success of Witco also spurned a couple of imitators of the style, working with that same thick grained swamp cedar. Some were ex-employees, some just Northern Cal/Oregon wood artists who saw that the stuff was selling.