Local carver Cody LaFrance is already making sawdust as he creates a new Logger Mike for Campbell River.
“I am extremely proud to carve a new Logger Mike,” says the award-winning participant in the Transformations on the Shore carving contest. “This is for my community and the folks who live and visit here.”
LaFrance is creating a new Logger Mike to replace the weather-worn 30-year-old carving created by Dean Lemke, also of Campbell River.
“We’d like to remind Campbell River residents that both the old carving and the new will tour downtown as part of the Canada Day parade, and this year’s Transformations on the Shore carving contest will offer a unique opportunity to have a photo taken with the new carving as of June 27,” says Ross Milnthorp, the City’s general manager of parks, recreation and culture. “We also thank everyone who applied to create a new Logger Mike and are grateful to the Campbell River Shoreline Arts Society for their assistance in selecting a carver and to Western Forest Products, Az-Tec Freight and Storey Creek Trading for donating and transporting the red cedar.”
Meet the carver:
“Carving has been a huge part of my life. My father was a faller, and at an early age, I developed a keen interest in working with wood. I have been carving for as long as I can remember really, from the time I got my first hand me down pocket knife, spending lots of time as a youngster sitting on the porch of trapping and guiding cabins whittling with an old hand-me-down knife,” he says. “I went from that little whippersnapper with a pocket knife, to an adult with an imagination that won’t stop.”
LaFrance’s talent for carving has turned into a passion for West Coast Native art. Some of his traditional creations include; Winter Moon, Bakwus, Tsonokwa, Frog Bowl, Sun Mask, Traditional Rattles, Welcoming Figures and works based on his traditional visions.
With a reputation as a seasoned professional carver, LaFrance has been commissioned to create carvings from a wide variety of small businesses, logging companies, municipalities and private individuals. He has been invited as a guest carver at events doing on-the-spot creations.
LaFrance welcomes visitors to watch the sawdust fly at his workshop and discuss the carving. Drop by at 887 Quinsam Crescent.
Check out images of his previous carvings on his Cody Lafrance Facebook page.