SOUTHINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) — It’s not something you see in any other yard along Woodland Drive, which is why it’s taking people by surprise. In a good way.

Homeowners Mike and Vanessa Macary took down three trees several months ago, but decided to leave a portion of the tree trunks. The reason? They wanted them to be carved. The two are big into the environment and animal conservation so they wanted to turn the trees into wilderness works of art. That’s when they enlisted the help of Jared Welcome.

“I have no artistic background. I just tried it, loved to do it. Loved the challenge of trying to pull out a piece of art from a blank log,” said Welcome, who’s the owner of Jarebear Chainsaw Carvings.

Welcome started doing the carvings five years ago after he saw a show about it on TV and became interested. Since then, he’s done carvings all over the state. Now, he’s currently carving wolves into two of the Macary’s trees. His life-like design has been getting the attention of people driving by.

“I study books. I study animals and I study their muscles,” said Welcome. “I study whatever animal the customer chooses so that I can get it as close as I can to realistic.”

After Welcome carved the first two trees — free-hand using a chainsaw — he then used a combination of paint and stain to bring it all to life. Welcome is currently working on the third tree, which will showcase owls. He says these types of carving are becoming quite popular across Connecticut.

“I wish more people would know about it, maybe local communities with trees they are taking down on their greens, libraries or something like that,” he tells News 8. “Just to give new meaning to a tree that was planted many years ago.”

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