American artist Jeffrey Samudosky uses a chainsaw (and finer woodworking tools) to carve huge single pieces of wood into amazing animals, sea creatures, and Native American motifs. Ethical wood salvage company Redwood Burl Inc. gave the artist a massive piece of coastal redwood which was logged more than 100 years ago. It took Samudosky six months to carve the 7′ x 11′ redwood into the larger-than-life octopus above. Some of his pieces have taken him years to complete, but he keeps at it until his carvings look like the image in his head.

Years ago, Samudosky had a serious snowboarding accident that left him temporarily paralyzed. Undaunted, once he was sufficiently recovered, the young man resumed the sport. It was during a snowboarding trip to Vermont that he first saw large-scale wood carvings, which inspired him to learn to make his own.

You can check out all of Jeff Samudosky’s amazing work on the JMS Wood Sculpture website, and on Instagram and Facebook.

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Chetwynd 2015 3rd place #jmswoodsculpture ,#chetwyndchainsawcarving , #chainsawcarving ,#skulls, #snake ,#ravens

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Jun 17, 2015 at 10:02am PDT

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Life sized stallion sculpted from cedar. #horse, #woodsculpture, #woodart, #chainsawart, #chainsawcarving

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Nov 11, 2018 at 10:11am PST

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2018 Skyhigh Carving Championship at Mt. Dandenong, Australia. #butterflies, #woodsculpture, #woodart, #chainsawart, #chainsawcarving

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Nov 8, 2018 at 1:36pm PST

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This bear was a beast to move at ten and a half feet tall, and over 4,000 lbs, but Tahoma High School is now the proud owner. #bearsculpture, #woodsculpture, #woodart, #chainsawcarving, #chainsawart, #chainsawartist

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Nov 8, 2018 at 3:01pm PST

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The stump on the customer's property was not solid, so Jeff installed this custom made sculpture of four river otters playing in the kelp in its stead. #riverotter, #woodsculpture, #woodart, #chainsawart, #chainsawcarving

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Nov 8, 2018 at 6:17pm PST

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Over a hundred years after this old growth Redwood was logged, JMS Wood Sculpture was able to reclaim this portion of a discarded stump giving it new life. It was important to Jeffrey to ensure the original springboard notch remained intact in the bench seat as it is an important part of American history. In fact he based the entire sculpture around this notch as a reminder of the mass logging that led activists to fight for the protection of the Redwoods. Thanks to their efforts we can still enjoy these rare coastal beauties. #woodart, #woodsculpture, #woodcarving, #chainsawart, #chainsawcarving, #octopus, #redwood

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Sep 14, 2019 at 6:18pm PDT

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Life sized American Quarter Horse. Progress pictures can be viewed on my website. #americanquarterhorse, #woodsculpture, #woodart, #chainsawart, #chainsawcarving

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Nov 8, 2018 at 5:28pm PST

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Jeff is proud to have been commissioned by Filson to carve this gorgeous Redwood wolf sculpture for their new flagship store in New York. The sculpture stands fourteen feet tall and incorporates 30 wolves. #woodcarving, #woodart, #chainsawart, #chainsawcarving, #woodsculpture, #wolves, #filson

A post shared by Jeffrey Michael Samudosky (@jms_wood_sculpture) on Jan 12, 2019 at 11:16am PST