Front yard art

Jeffrey Butcher, right, and artist Jacob Lucas in front of Lucas' rendition of otters and fish sculpted from a sycamore tree. Butcher found the two trees in the front yard of his house at 415 Columbia in Coulee Dam too overbearing for the lot, so he hired Lucas to carve them into art with his chainsaw technique. Lucas, who also created the sculpture in the city's Mason City Memorial Park, as well as numerous carvings in Bridgeport, started the project last Tuesday, finishing up Sunday. The other tree is now a pair of American bald eagles. "I just looked at the flow of the wood in the tree, and there are beavers and otters and eagles here, so it fit," Lucas said. He has months of work scheduled on the state's west side but wanted to get Butcher's project done before winter. Butcher, extremely pleased with the result, also bought the bear carving behind Lucas to place on the porch. - Scott Hunter photo