Brandon carves out historic success on world stage

by Nick Rowe
Drouin chainsaw artist Brandon Kroon has carved out another remarkable success on the world stage, completing an historic clean sweep at one of the biggest chainsaw carving competitions in the world.
Brandon recently returned from Chetwynd in British Columbia, Canada, after taking out first place, carvers' choice and people's choice at the Chetwynd International Chainsaw Carving Championship.
It was the first time in the competition's history that one carver swept all three major awards.
This year marked the event's 20th anniversary and was billed as the "Clash of the Champions", with every competitor having previously placed at the prestigious event.
It was Brandon's fifth visit to Chetwynd, a town about 12 hours north-east of Vancouver, and he was delighted just to receive an invitation.
"It was a pretty big event, so I was stoked to be invited back for it because I'd placed a couple of times there," Brandon said. "It's considered to be probably the largest chainsaw comp in the world."
The inspiration for Brandon's winning creation came from a source familiar to parents everywhere — constantly stepping on and cleaning up Lego.
Titled "Loggo", a play on the famous Lego blocks being recreated from a log, the sculpture featured two Lego-style pirates fighting over a freshly discovered treasure chest on a marooned island.
The idea also was inspired by Brandon's two young sons, aged four and almost two.

"Being a father of two young boys, I'm constantly stepping on and vacuuming this Lego," he wrote in his brief. "My family is my biggest inspiration, and I wanted to create the sculpture to honour their creativity, imagination and fun."

Remarkably, Brandon had four completely different designs ready to go before abandoning them just two weeks out from the competition.
"I was cleaning up Lego and I looked at it and thought, 'That's actually a crazy idea — to carve Lego'," he said. "I don't think it's ever been done with a chainsaw."
What followed was weeks of planning, practice and even borrowing Lego sets from friends to find the right pieces for his design.
"And yes, The Lego Movie had been playing on repeat for inspiration," Brandon noted.
While carving Lego might sound easier than creating intricate animals or natural forms, Brandon said its straight lines and recognisable proportions made it a huge technical challenge.
"With a lot of animal carvings, you can freestyle a little bit," he said. "If there's a bit of inconsistent wood there, you can turn the spine and wrap the animal through there or change it up.
"But with this, if it's even 20 millimetres out, because it's such an iconic shape, people go, 'There's something wrong'. It has to be perfect."
Brandon believes his fellow competitors particularly appreciated the difficulty involved, making the carvers' choice award especially satisfying.
"Once I got that award, I was like, this is the greatest thing I could have done," he said.
"All your peers vote for you and you just go, that's as good as it gets."
The sculpture included moving arms, giving the piece a mechanical element, while Brandon deliberately resisted painting it in traditional Lego colours.
Instead, he largely left the cedar exposed, using shading to highlight details while allowing the grain of the timber to remain a feature of the work.
"It still highlights that it's wood, but you can see the skill to get it flat."
Brandon was equally delighted by the public response and the ability of Lego to appeal to young and old alike. "One of the most satisfying parts of the competition was the fact that I had no idea Lego was such an exciting thing, not just to kids, but to all generations," he said.

"While I had my earmuffs on while I was carving, I could hear parents and kids getting so excited about it. It was nice for me that it spanned across generations."

The winning sculpture will now remain permanently in Chetwynd, joining almost 300 chainsaw carvings that line the town's streets.
The trip lasted about 12 days, with Brandon flying from Melbourne to Auckland and then Vancouver before making the long drive to Chetwynd. His brother-in-law Jake Wilson travelled with him as his assistant.
With two young children at home, Brandon said his international competition trips were now a lot briefer than they once were.
A mechanic by trade, Brandon entered the professional wood carving and sculpting scene in 2013 and moved to Drouin with his wife Meg in 2018.
He creates everything from smaller private commissions to large public installations, with his prominent "Welcome to Erica" sign among his local works in Baw Baw Shire.
Brandon has competed and demonstrated his skills around the world, including in Canada, the United States, Lithuania and Alaska.
Last year he added further international success with major awards at Loggerodeo in Washington State and a third placing at the US Open in New York.
For now, however, Brandon is happy to be back home, with a number of public, business and private commissions on the horizon.
"I'm home for a little while now," he said. "I'll do the big comps when I get invited, but I've got a few exciting projects coming."
After becoming the first carver to sweep all three major awards at Chetwynd, those invitations may well keep coming.