Albany chainsaw sculptor Darrel Radcliffe never stumped for ideas as tourism dream grows

A glistening 2.7m tall cello emerging from a twisted tree root is Albany artist Darrel Radcliffe’s favourite piece from his “sculpture drive”. Looking at the towering creation among 130 intricate wooden sculptures adorning his sprawling Walmsley property, it is hard to believe they were crafted using a chainsaw. Outside of his day job as a hospital orderly, Mr Radcliffe has been chipping away at his craft for the past 12 years. “I had seen this done before overseas, so I tried it out and entered a few competitions and I did quite well,” he said. “Then, being a bit obsessive-natured, I just kept persevering, practising and developing my carvings from there.” Mr Radcliffe works with decades-old jarrah to carve his designs which can reach above 4m tall. “It has beautiful dark colouring,” he said. “A lot of farmers have all old windrows that have been pushed up for many years so I can fossick through there and find wood that is 20 or 30 years old.” Chainsaw artists are few and far between in Australia, but the art form is more popular across Europe and the US. “It’s not common in WA because we have such hard brittle wood so to get the hours up within the practice it takes a huge amount of time,” he said. Although he is entirely self-taught, the characters in Mr Radcliffe’s sculptures are far from wooden. He said his favourite part of the process was using small chainsaws to create millimetre-fine details that bring the wood back to life. “You can really create personality, emotions and a lot of feeling and meaning in carving a human form,” he said. “I really enjoy it and it is very challenging.” About five years ago, he decided to create a tourist drive on his Mercer Road property. The drive has since become a drawcard for locals and tourists, with bus-loads of visitors rolling through to catch a glimpse of his work each week. Now working just one day at Albany Health Campus, Mr Radcliffe said he was channelling his energy into growing his tourist offering and sharing his passion with the community. “It started off through word of mouth and now it is full-on,” he said. “The tourist drive certainly isn’t a hobby anymore — it is pretty much my full-time job. “My main inspiration now is the tourist sculpture drive. “Being semi-retired I am not chasing the big money. It’s is just to give something back to the community.”