• Wednesday-What'sUP February 26 - 12:22 am

Imagine driving along the U.P. highways and you glance along the side of the road only to see this guy staring at you! Or picture yourself taking a nice stroll along a country lane and you suddenly get the feeling you're being watched! You'll soon discover it's not someone, but something inanimate that you've spotted, carved by John Lauzon, to greet folks as they arrive at his little slice of the U.P. I love the way this guy is staring off to the side and the character added with the lines and cracks of the natural wood texture! Gives me hope that my lines and cracks add character too! :->

Good Morning,
Cute picture. Did the woodpecker do it yesterday?

Morning Dad!

Your right rb, those birds are really getting good! Hi, K & A.

Good morning from Mishawaka IN. Great picture. Where's the Tin Man and Dorthy and the Cowardly Lion.? I would love to have Mr. Tree in my yard. Have a good day everyone.

Neat picture!

This tree man could live in my front yard.
The carving and pic are good.

To Lord of the Rings fans: It's an Ent!

How's the snow up there these days?

What a wonderful talent! The one of 'Gramps' in the gallery is cool too!

Neat!

Beautiful work, John.

Excellent!

Cute. What happened to the bear hugging the tree located on US 41 shortly before the Eagle Harbor cut-off? Was the tree cut down? That was also a
neat thing. Anyone know who painted that gnarled image and what happened to it?

..."I've got a feelin`...somebody's watchin` me..."

I tink the bear hugging the tree got cut down when the road commission cleaned up the ditches on side of the road dis past summer........ya I think dey dit it...........

I was tinking to myself what da heck happened to dat bear there by dat road.........but now I see what the heck..........tanks alot eh!

Hey! Its my brother! I always thought he belonged in a tree. HAHA . What talent!
We are basking in the 60 here still. Warmest January ever, Ski resorts are hating it.
Please send snow!

Great talent! It is evident that with the moss on this tree, that it is dying. However, if one carved on a "green" (healthy) tree like that, it would kill it.

Incredible talent! Wow! It reminds me of the talking apple tree in The Wizard of Oz!

I can't believe the detail in this... the talent UPer's have! :)

(Anyone jumping into the lake lately? May your sauna be VERY hot and ready!)

Moss loves to grow on bark. I don't know that it signifies tree death - we had a tree for a whole childhood that had plenty of moss and is still strong as ever.
Neat carving!

Neat picture and such talent. I'd love to have something like that on one of my big maples!

Kinda gives ya the chills.

The hear hugging tree was moved to Eagle Harbor and is on display in the park by the Fire Hall. Still looks like a bear hugging a tree.

Make that the Bear hugging tree (not hear hugging tree). Sorry. Too early to not have typos. . .

Hi, I love this guy in the tree. We have a face nailed up in one of our oaks but he is REALLY cute. I have put him on my background and he gives me a chuckle. freezing rain and no school here today.. Everyone try and have a Beautiful Day...

Treebeard in the summer--Snowbeard in the winter.

will the tree die???

ts, no the tree is strong and healthy, as you can see the tree healing itself around the face, if it was dieing, the bark would start to fall off.

Love the picture today. It makes me smile! : )

Great photo and art work! I also put him on my desktop. Reminds me of someone from Copper City (jk).

My summer playmate, Pat Mella Miller, Eagle Harbor, now of Calumet, enjoyed carving on the trees. I could be wrong, but I believe the bear hugger was one of hers. She also did one on the path beyond the Catholic church in Eagle Harbor (along Eliza Creek).

That looks like G. Hite

Speaking of G.Hite,how is/are he/you?

If a person wanted to hire John to do a carving how would
he get in touch with him? Where does he hail from? Google
search brings up nothing.

The bear hugging the tree near the turn off road to Eagle Harbor was originally my masterpiece. I painted it years ago. Everytime we passed that gnarled old tree, I could see the image of a bear hugging that wood. One day, my girlfriend, Pat, and I drove up there and climbed on her car and painted it. We were so afraid of getting caught that whenever a car passed by, we would jump down and pretend to be picking berries. Over the years, other people spruced him up. But, Pat and I were the original artists.
A chunk of that tree with the bear is now in Eagle Harbor

Does anyone remember the face on the tree at the bottom of the hill right before tylers road? It was on a pine that had a burl or a fungus bulge at the base of it.

Are you sure thats not you Mike? I dont see Toby or Sam

I remember it, that one I believe was cut down and stolen. Would look for it every time on the way to Lac La Belle.

hmmmm...very artistic...very interesting that someone would use a live plant as a canvas for several reasons, 1)what it will do to the plant and 2) they are accepting of their work going away with the elements or natural causes.

By Green Man Group on Wednesday, January 12, 2005 - 02:50 pm:

HI THERE!

This is just way too cool.

John, MI:

E-mail is available to each gallery owner on the gallery pages. Just click on the name of the owner.
Fantastic carvings!!

re the bear in the tree at Copper Falls Junction....the ride along US 41 to Copper Harbor's just not the same sans Two Tag, as I recall seeing him named at least one year complete with beerbottle necktie...

SarahK of FL:
I saw an artist on a Sunday morning news show-his name is Andrew Goldsworthy. His art is of nature and very temporary. But so-o-o-o cool. Check out this website.

http://cgee.hamline.edu/see/goldsworthy/see_an_andy.html

SarahK, everytime an ice sculpturist does his/her thing, it is only temporary art. I believe a tree carving will last much longer. Also, I wouldn't worry about the tree because mother nature can do more damage to a tree (lightning)and yet a tree will survive, if not thrive.

Thanks Doug in Idaho on the info about on woodpeckers and the siding on my house. With the lack of snow here in the twin cities I could do its this weekend. on second thought I wait till spring. Twin cities may have a total of 5 inches for the year 04-05

It would be so neat to see all the trees with faces on them. Nice weather here. It is 55 degrees
out and it is nearly 1:00 A.M.

Carlene, Waters MI., the tree gods are smiling.

It is great work. I wish I had the talent

This is WEIRD!!! I think i'd jump if I saw him on the side of the road!

Thats the coolest thing I've ever seen!

that old bear ( series of spuce burls, which are caused by a disease which deformed the tree) has been around a long time. i remember him when i was a young boy and now i am old!!! i do not know where he ended up, some say eagle harbor, i hope the spruce bugs gave him a proper burial!!

That's my dad! (John the carver, not the guy in the tree)
He's done lots of these, and as long as you don't cut the bark all the way around the wholetree, the tree heals itself very well. He's even carved a couple of these way down south in Mississippi.
A walk through their yard at dusk can be a little spooky though...

Hi:
My name is John Lauzon, I am "The Chiseler". I recently moved to 82 Minnesota Ave.in Montreal Wisconsin from Bessemer Michigan, where the tree is located.(by the way, the house where the tree is located is for sale if anyone is interested) I have done over 1200 faces in driftwood, wood, trees, etc. etc. , each piece lends a different character. It is not only therapy for me it is addictive. I love it. If you would like to contact me my cell phone # is 1-906-364-2898.

To see more carvings by the "The Chiseler" click on this link http://chiseler.tripod.com/