News : Chainsaw artist creates sculpture for himself

Brian Parr carves a grizzly bear from the trunk of a damaged tree in front of his Vinton home.

The latest home to have a damaged tree carved into a sculpture by Brian Parr is his own, in Vinton.

It's been a common sight around Vinton and the neighboring area where heavy winds damaged hundreds of huge trees in July: Brian Parr carving a sculpture from a damaged trunk.

On Saturday, Parr stood at such a tree: Large, but broken, with a large orange "X" identifying it as a tree to be cut down.

Instead of removing it, however, Parr is transforming it into a grizzly bear.

The unique thing about this project is that the homeowner for which Parr is doing this one is Parr himself.

He and his wife bought a house that had been repaired after being severely damaged by the flood of 2008. That property was impacted three years later by the July 2011 storm.

Parr estimates that he has finished about 10 projects involving trees damaged by the storm. Many of his works can be seen throughout Vinton, although his latest project now turns heads on one of the main roads leading into La Porte City.