He was hired to remove an Andover oak tree. He ended up carving a lighthouse and an owl
Wichita native Daniel Dossett said he always had an interest in various artistic endeavors. But it wasn’t until recently that he stepped into a medium he hasn’t tried before: carving.
Dossett works at Arbor Masters Tree Service. Last year, he was on a job in an Andover yard.
An oak tree had to be removed “because it had a fungus infection in the root system, and so a lot of large pieces were dying out. It was a safety risk,” Dossett said.
The tree was around 70 years old, the homeowner said, and started to decline in health about six years ago. It had become a place of enjoyment for neighbors, who watched families of birds that found homes in the tree. Because of the tree’s history, the client asked the company to keep the trunk to possibly be made into a carving.
“I thought, ‘Oh, that’s really cool,’” Dossett said.
Although he had never carved before, he couldn’t help but think about the possibility.
“I just thought it would be interesting to try someday,” he said. He offered to do the carving if the homeowner wasn’t able to find anyone else to do the job.
Some time passed, and then the client decided to go with Dossett as the artist. After looking at about 50 different lighthouse designs, Dossett finally began work right after Halloween.
“Every time he worked on it, you can see he really did care about trying to get it right,” the homeowner, who asked not to be named, told The Eagle.
The result was two separate carvings — a tall, white lighthouse with windows, inspired by lighthouses the homeowner visited, and an owl, inspired by an owl that used to live in the oak tree, sitting on a bookstack with a sign that says “Still Standing: The Oak’s Final Chapter.” The owl was carved from the upper part of the trunk. The homeowner actually showed Dossett a picture of the owl before he began carving.
Dossett used different sizes of chainsaws for larger sections of the tree and a small chainsaw for detailing on the owl, he said. He also used a die grinder, a disc grinder and a dremel for the carvings.
The lighthouse took about 150 hours of work and the owl carving took about 110 hours. Both art pieces sit in the client’s yard in Andover.
“I didn’t think about how much attention they could draw. I was only thinking about how fun it would be to have them, but people really love them (and) comment on them, and people don’t even realize that the lighthouse is actually a tree trunk,” the homeowner said.
‘I realized a lot of things ... about myself’
Dossett said the carving experience has opened up the door for him to be able to express himself in other artistic ways.
“After I started working on the owl, I realized a lot of things I learned about myself … just understanding that I have always been interested in artistic stuff,” he said.
“I’ve been fascinated with the artistic concepts of fragrance (and) perfumery ... trying to make my own. I have always been interested in listening to different types of musical pieces . . . the different instruments, the timing, the parts where some come in and then some come out . . . it’s just another expression of art. And then doing hands-on work as well.”
Dossett has lived in Wichita his whole life. His family also live here and Dossett said they were surprised about his latest revealed talent.
“They were excited about the concept, and as they were seeing it, me giving pictures once in a while, the progress, they were quite astounded,” Dossett said.
Since the completion of the carvings, Dossett has had some interest from neighbors for possible commissions.
“I’m somewhat hesitant, knowing how long it can take. It depends on the type of project, how many hours I have available to work on it. I am interested in doing more,” he said.
Dossett said that right now, he’s exploring ways to fine-tune his talent.
“I can always take a smaller scale … I could practice how to fine tune my skills on carving a rabbit, an eagle, a bear,” Dossett said. “I could always sell it or gift it, or just have put in that experience to then be able to do it on a larger scale.”
