Tree sculpture is a hoot

James wasn't in the least bit 'stumped' when contacted by Stanley McCombe from Gortmellon Road near Donemana who asked him to create something from the trunk of a tree which had been cut down as he had a track record of carving imaginative chairs, thrones and other natural furniture pieces - some of which he proudly displays in his home.

Having trained as a tree surgeon in Surrey, England, James now runs his own business, Red Squirrel Tree Services, and admitted being owed by some of the tree carvings he has seen on his visits to shows in England, where intricate carvings include subjects like eagles and bears.

"When I was contacted by Stanley I thought I would like to give it a go. Stanley said he had a large sycamore timber that he wanted turned into a sculpture so I said I would try.

"The owl is my first attempt at sculpting something intricate other than a chair. I have made thrones and chairs, including a nine-foot tall redwood chair which I made from an ornamental tree cut down at the back of a school in Strabane which was being extended and the tree would have been a danger if left. That chair now sits in the hallway of my house," he said.

Mr McSparron said he was quite pleased with how his owl had turned out.

"I made it from the tree that Stanley had cut down. When he contacted me he said he had a seven-foot piece of log and he brought it to Buncrana for me to carve. He came back down with 12 men to take it back, and he has made a plinth in concrete to which he has bolted the owl," James said, adding: "He used four or five gallons of oil to treat it so that it will weather well."

It took about a week-and-a-half to bring the owl out of the sycamore trunk using a chainsaw to carve the basic shape and finish the detail using a four-inch angle grinder with a sanding disc, and asked if he would like to tackle something a little more difficult like an eagle in flight, James said he might try an indigenous animal of some kind - perhaps a squirrel.

"I don't know if I would be brave enough to attempt something with wings outstretched," he said.

Far from ruffling feathers now that he is affixed to his plinth, the owl is bound to have people asking 'hoo-dunnit?'.