MANSFIELD, Ohio — Sarah Nicol never thought she would find her passion in Afton, Wyoming. After spending three months with her uncle during an apprenticeship in high school, her passion was clear: wood carving with a chainsaw.
Her uncle, Jonathan “The Bearman” LaBenne, is known around the world for his chainsaw art of wild animals. He said the artistic talent runs in the family, and when he worked with Sarah her senior year, he noticed it right away.
“There was no doubt in my mind when I led her through the steps of carving a bear cub in a log that she could do it. Artists connect often by kindred spirit and that has always been the case with her,” said LaBenne.
That was in 1999. Since then, Sarah married, gave birth to six girls and bought an electric chainsaw — among other wood working tools. It was time to chase after her dream.
Her garage in Mansfield is filled with sawdust — remnants of her passion. And, of course, her artwork: bears resting in logs, raccoons peaking through tree trunk holes, benches with detailed etches of nature.
In fact, nature inspires her. Specifically, she sees and appreciates details found in nature and tries to capture the same details in her artwork. When she apprenticed with LaBenne, she noticed how much more fine tuned his art was compared to other chainsaw artists.
“And I guess that’s part of the reason why I liked it so much more than a lot of the other chainsaw carvers that you’d see in the area,” said Nicol.
Nicol also paints.
Like her woodcarving, her paintings contain details that get her in the “zone.” But often, she said that paintings prompt her to add details, sometimes to the point of not finishing them. With carving wood, you can’t add on, she said.
“You can always take away from wood, but you can’t add on. So I’m always thinking ahead when I carve and (I’m) really focused on my piece. Sometimes, though, I watch my kids play while carving,” said Nicol.
This aspect of wood carving keeps her intrigued and challenged, always wanting more.
“I love to do it. I would love it if I could just do this full time some day. That’s my dream — I would love to paint and carve and stay home with my kids,” said Nicol.
Like LaBenne’s sense for Nicol’s artistic talent, Nicol sees the artistic bend in some of her girls. She said her eldest, Sophia, has a knack for drawing horses.
“She’s even writing her own book and making her own illustrations — an 11-year-old,” said Nicol with humble pride.
She hopes that her pursuit to do what she loves would inspire her girls to chase their dreams too, whatever they may be.
“I don’t want people to give up on dreams because this is a dream of mine,” she said, emphasizing ‘this’ with a broad wave with her hand through the garage.
And recently, Nicol said she has had several opportunities in the area to sell her artwork, namely her woodcarvings. She attributes this success to prayer.
“I guess I gotta be careful what I pray for because now God is opening up so many doors for me, so many different venues. This is the first year that I’ve gone to other places besides home and carved for people — I’ve never done that before,” she said, excitedly.
Could this be a next step to doing her passion as a full-time gig? she wondered. Now her prayer is for discretion, she said. “So I know when to pull away from my other job.”
“I don’t want people to give up on dreams because this is a dream of mine,” said Sarah Nicol.
