This Oak Creek artist is creating sculptures out of fallen trees in a local park

If you see a man wandering through the woods in Oak Creek’s Abendschein Park with a chainsaw don’t worry, you haven’t entered a horror movie set.

Instead, you’ve wandered into Brett Huisman’s sculpture studio.

The Oak Creek resident has created many pieces of art for the city, including two knights carved out of trees that had fallen in Abendschein, the murals along the dugouts at the park's baseball field, a "farmer" carving out of a large, 200-year-old tree that had been hit by lightning at the Oak Creek Historical Society, and a few projects for the American Legion, to name a few.

Huisman connected with city officials about a year and a half ago to carve his first wooden knight, which can now be seen at Oak Creek High School. Huisman had seen some logs from cut down trees and reached out, wanting to practice his carving skills pro bono.

After getting approved, and signing a no harm agreement in case he got hurt, Huisman got to work on the knight. He had a vision in his head, but nature had another thought.

“It was one of those things that Mother Nature took control and split the log after I’d done about 90% of it,” Huisman said, joking it made him “throw my head in my heads and get into the fetal position.”

He was able to save the project by knocking off the head and making the entire sculpture smaller.

Huisman is carving a second knight; still dealing with cracking

Now, Huisman is working on a second knight, carving a stump in the wooded area near the disc golf course at Abendschein. That one has also started to split, but he’s hopeful he can save it. Where this one might end up, he isn’t sure.

“I think it’s best to just keep it where it’s at, you’re not going to get a better foundation,” he said.

Having his art left out in public can bring concerns of vandals trying to add their own flair, but Huisman said he’s been lucky that none of his carvings or murals have been touched.

“There must be some kind of hidden law between deviants and those who want to graffiti, no one’s ever touched them,” he said.

After saying so, maybe he should knock on his wood sculpture.

People show an interest in his work

He does often get people coming up asking him about his work. Most, but not all, are receptive.

“I’ve had a couple of Karens every now and then,” he said, asking if he had permission. “I’m thinking, ‘no, I’m just a random guy running around with a chainsaw in the park.’”

Huisman uses a variety of tools to create his sculptures

For his projects, Huisman uses chainsaws, a grinder and a Dremel rotary tool for detail. He likes to go big, which led him to utilizing power tools instead of hand tools to create his projects.

Carvings like these, where he doesn’t charge, can take two weeks or up to a couple months to complete depending on how often he can make it out to the side projects. He doesn’t carve much in the woods during the summer “because the mosquitos are just unruly.”

Huisman doesn’t map out his sculptures too much, preferring what he calls the “free willy” method.

“It comes up in the head what I want to do depending on how the tree is positioned and how thick it is, and then I just execute,” he said. “I find it more exciting to just go at it.”

An artistic journey: From paint to water to wood

Huisman's artistic journey actually started with paint, creating a Packers mural in his garage that was spotted by a neighbor who worked as a cameraman for a local television news station. The mural was included as part of a segment on Packers parties.

“It was less than 10 seconds worth of an interview,” Huisman said with a laugh.

But that 10 seconds of fame led to much more than he expected. Soon after, he got a call from a restaurant owner in Milwaukee wanting Huisman to create a mural for his business. While working there, he met another client “and it just snowballed.”

Three months later, he realized he could quit his job in sales and do art full time. He was 37 when he quit. He’s now 54 and keeps busy with art projects mostly through word of mouth.

“I’ve never advertised, I never even made a business card,” he said.

After a period of focusing on paint, he decided to expand and tried sculpting. He has competed in state-level competitions for snow sculpting and also did ice sculpture and eventually wood projects.

“I just got some wood, started playing around with it and absolutely loved it,” he said, crediting the City of Oak Creek for giving him the opportunity to keep working on his craft.

Huisman's advice for artists and how to contact him

To aspiring artists, he has one piece of advice: “If you wanna be, you have to do.”

Huisman has done projects for GE Medical, the Potawatomi Casino, Jellystone Campground in Caledonia and others.

“If I don’t do something, if I don’t be creative, I’m almost incorrigible,” he said. “It’s probably my favorite thing in the world to do.”

Other than his pro bono project of the knight for Oak Creek, Huisman is currently working on a Vietnam soldier for the Oak Creek Legion carved out of a big log he had to drag up his driveway he picked up at the Legion Post.

Those interested in contacting Huisman for a project can reach him at mindseyemural@gmail.com.

Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner, and follow him on Twitter @Redheadliner.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Fallen trees are the 'canvas' for this Oak Creek wood carver