I Didn’t Know Wood Could Do This (10 Photos vol. 2)

October 30, 2026

By Vidar

Carved, woven and stacked

A hand reaches out of the stump of what was once the tallest tree in Wales. A troll in Iowa hugs a tree in a pot. Five wooden spans cross a river in Japan, and a temple of timber rises in the Nevada desert only to be burned. Ten more works that show what wood can do.

More: I Didn’t Know Wood Could Do This (10 Photos)

🌲 Helmut — By Thomas Dambo in Clinton, Iowa, USA 🇺🇸

Helmut stands near The Sawmill Museum hugging a tub with a living tree that rises high above his head; the visitor in front of him gives the scale. He is the middle of three troll brothers in Dambo’s The Tree Thieves.

💡 Story Fact: The trolls are built from reclaimed wood, and in the story this town’s sawmills once cut down the forest they slept in. In Dambo’s poem for the project, the oldest brother is Warren, then Helmut, then Marwin. Marwin was in part one of this series.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsHelmutThomas Dambo · 2026 · Sawmill Museum, Clinton, IowaThe Tree ThievesReclaimed woodBuilt 20261Helmut is one of the giant troll brothers in Dambo’s The Tree Thieves in Clinton.Thomas Dambo2Eastern Iowa Community Colleges says Helmut stands near the Sawmill Museum in Clinton.Eastern Iowa Community Colleges202613 MayCollege news on the troll buildRead the full file →

More: Three Giant Trolls Followed Their Stolen Trees to Iowa (8 Photos)

🔗 Follow Thomas Dambo on Instagram

📷 Image: Thomas Dambo

🌊 Face in the Driftwood — By Debra Bernier of Vancouver Island, Canada 🇨🇦

A sleeping face sits inside a curl of wood that the sea has already shaped. Debra Bernier carves into driftwood and adds clay and shells, keeping the grain and cracks the water left.

More: 19 Driftwood Sculptures by Debra Bernier

🔗 Follow Debra Bernier on Instagram

✋ “The Giant Hand of Vyrnwy” — By Simon O’Rourke at Lake Vyrnwy, Wales, UK 🇬🇧

This Douglas fir was the tallest tree in Wales, 63.7 meters (208.9 ft) tall, until storms damaged it and it was felled in 2011. Chainsaw artist Simon O’Rourke carved the tall stump that was left into a giant hand.

💡 Carving Fact: To O’Rourke, the hand is “the tree’s last attempt to reach for the sky”. The trunk was not wide enough for a whole hand, so he added two pieces for the thumb and little finger. Putting up the scaffold on the difficult ground took two days; the carving took six.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Giant Hand of VyrnwySimon O’Rourke · 2011 · Lake Vyrnwy, Powys, WalesChainsaw carvingDouglas fir stumpCarved 20111Simon O’Rourke carved the hand into the top of a stump left 15.2 m (50 ft) high when Wales’ tallest tree was felled.BBC News2He added two pieces for the thumb and little finger, as the trunk wasn’t wide enough for the whole hand.Simon O’Rourke20113 MarBBC: tree felled201111 NovBBC: hand carved201517 FebArbtalk forum report202020 NovArtist revisits the hand20222 Octkomoot photos202515 Febkomoot photosRead the full file →

More: From Tallest Tree to Towering Sculpture: The Giant Hand of the UK

🔗 Visit Simon O’Rourke’s website

📷 Image: Simon O’Rourke

🗿 “Ikala Nawan” — By Peter Wolf Toth in Astoria, Oregon, USA 🇺🇸

This 18-foot cedar face stands near the Youngs Bay Bridge in Astoria. It is one of Hungarian-born Peter Wolf Toth’s Whispering Giants. Toth carves them with hammer and chisel as sculptures of Native American people and talks with local tribes before he starts.

💡 Road Trip Fact: Toth set out to place at least one in every U.S. state and reached all 50 in 1988, with a carving in Hawaii.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsIkala Nawan (Whispering Giant)Peter Wolf Toth · 1987 · Astoria, OregonCarved cedarDedicated 1987Whispering Giant no. 571The Daily Astorian calls the 18-foot cedar head No. 57 of Toth’s Whispering Giants.The Daily Astorian2Its plaque reportedly honors the Clatsop, Chinook and all the Northwest Coastal Indians.Astoria Daily Photo2010JanLocal photo blog with the plaque201821 MayCarol M. Highsmith photograph202210 FebDaily Astorian on the statueRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, LC-DIG-highsm-50547 (public domain)

🌀 “O Say Can You See” — By Patrick Dougherty in Washington, D.C., USA 🇺🇸

Nothing here is carved: the walls are thousands of saplings bent and woven into rooms you can walk through. Patrick Dougherty made it for the U.S. Botanic Garden’s 200th anniversary, with Norway maple, Siberian elm and cherry saplings harvested from invasive plants in the area, plus farm-grown willow.

💡 Build Fact: Volunteers and garden staff worked more than 200 shifts with Dougherty’s team over three weeks in October 2019.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsO Say Can You SeePatrick Dougherty · 2019 · U.S. Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C.Woven saplingsBuilt October 2019Garden’s 200th anniversary1Volunteers and staff worked more than 200 shifts with Dougherty’s team on the build.U.S. Botanic Garden2Planned through December 2020, it stayed on view until 30 September 2022, according to the Garden’s exhibit record.U.S. Botanic Garden201915 OctGarden on the build201923 OctReported complete201921 DecPhoto by Dragon Librarian202230 SepGarden lists end of displayRead the full file →

🔗 Visit Patrick Dougherty’s website

📷 Photo: Dragon Librarian / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🌉 Kintai Bridge — Iwakuni, Japan 🇯🇵

The bridge’s wooden arches rest on four stone piers in the Nishiki River. The first Kintai Bridge was built in 1673; after a 1950 flood washed it away, it was rebuilt in 1953 to match the original.

💡 Typhoon Fact: The 1950 flood came with Typhoon Kijia. On September 14, townspeople chanted “save the bridge” in the storm, but it was washed away at 9:40 a.m.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsKintai Bridge (錦帯橋)Iwakuni Domain · 1673 · Iwakuni, JapanFirst built 1673Five wooden spansRebuilt 19531Five wooden spans, three of them arches, cross the Nishiki River on stone piers.Iwakuni City2A 1950 typhoon flood washed the bridge away; it was rebuilt in 1953.MCAS Iwakuni201024 JulPhoto by Jakub Hałun202620 JulVisitor guide to the bridgeRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Jakub Hałun / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🐻 Dahl’s Chainsaw Art — Keystone, South Dakota, USA 🇺🇸

A bear waves from the Welcome sign, an eagle stands guard and a log arch announces the World’s Largest Bigfoot. Every figure in this yard in Keystone, a small town by Mount Rushmore, was cut with chainsaws of various sizes.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDahl’s Chainsaw ArtJarrett and Jordan Dahl · Keystone, South DakotaChainsaw carvingPonderosa pineBlack Hills1Jarrett and Jordan Dahl carve bears, eagles and other figures with chainsaws.Travel South Dakota2According to Travel South Dakota, the Keystone centerpiece is the World’s Largest Wooden Bigfoot Sculpture.Travel South Dakota20181 Jul605 Magazine on Jarrett Dahl20218 DecHighsmith photographs the Keystone yard202513 OctKOTA TV on the Keystone shop202612 SepCowboy State Daily on the BigfootRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Carol M. Highsmith, LC-DIG-highsm-69178 (public domain)

⛪ Church of the Transfiguration — Kizhi Island, Russia 🇷🇺

Twenty-two wooden domes climb the Church of the Transfiguration on an island in Lake Onega, with the nine-dome Church of the Intercession on the left. The scaffolding in this 2016 photo is part of a long restoration.

💡 Heritage Fact: The Transfiguration church was built in 1714 from pine logs joined without nails, apart from the domes and roof shingles. The two churches and the octagonal bell tower beside them, added in 1862, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsChurch of the Transfiguration (Церковь Преображения Господня)Kizhi Pogost · 1714 · Kizhi Island, Karelia, RussiaBuilt 171422 cupolas37 metres high1Twenty-two wooden cupolas crown the 37-metre church.UNESCO2It reopened in 2021 after a long restoration.The Art Newspaper201619 JulPhoto with restoration scaffolding202116 JulReopening reportedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Alexxx1979 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🔥 “Galaxia” — By Arthur Mamou-Mani at Burning Man, Nevada, USA 🇺🇸

The 2018 Temple at Burning Man was built from 20 timber trusses that spiral up toward one point in the sky. Architect Arthur Mamou-Mani’s team built it in Reno and Oakland and raised it in the Black Rock Desert.

💡 Fire Fact: Traditionally, the Temple is burned on the final night of the event, the night after the Man burns.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGalaxiaArthur Mamou-Mani · 2018 · Black Rock City, NevadaBurning Man 2018 Temple20 timber trusses3D-printed mandala1Twenty timber trusses spiralled inward towards a central 3D-printed mandala.Mamou-Mani2Burning Man announced it as the 2018 Temple in December 2017.Burning Man Journal201721 DecAnnounced as the 2018 Temple201831 AugNight photo by BLM Nevada20182 SepBurned at the end of the festivalRead the full file →

🔗 Visit Mamou-Mani’s website

📷 Photo: BLM Nevada / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

🛕 Sanctuary of Truth — Pattaya, Thailand 🇹🇭

This seaside temple is built entirely of wood, and every figure on it is carved by hand. Businessman Lek Viriyaphan started it in 1981, and the work is still going on; visitors tour it in hard hats.

💡 Size Fact: Its tallest spire reaches 105 meters (344 ft).

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSanctuary of Truth (ปราสาทสัจธรรม)Lek Viriyaphan (founder) · 1981 · Pattaya, ThailandStarted 1981All-wood buildingFounded by Lek Viriyaphan1Lek Viriyaphan started it in 1981, and the hand-carving is reportedly still going on.Wikipedia2Its carvings reportedly mix Thai, Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese and Khmer traditions.Holiday Inn Pattaya201527 JanTAT News feature201619 FebPhoto by Rolf Heinrich202525 OctPattaya Mail feature20267 MayThai government portal lists it openRead the full file →