Warren Homeowners Turn Tree Stump into Lawn Art

Warren homeowners Carolyn and Dan Patenaude decided to turn a tree stump into a work of art last week.

The Patenaudes, who live on Kinnicutt Avenue in Warren, had a large tree removed in the front of their house right before Tropical Storm Irene hit the coast. But because of the influx of rain, they couldn't remove the whole tree. So instead of grinding down the stump, the couple left the stump high to weather out the storm.

After the rain and winds subsided, Dan had a change of heart about removing the large stump and decided to have the tree carved into an animal rather than removed completely.

"We thought it was a good idea," Dan said. "Hey, if we didn't like it, we could always cut it down!"

So Carolyn called her brother, Richard Kaiser, and asked if he would use his artistic talent and turn her stump into something "cute."

"He does a lot of coyotes and stuff, but I wanted a cute bear," she said. "I thought it kind of fit with our log cabin and the rest of the yard."

Kaiser, 62, of Warren, is a retired art teacher from Rehoboth who calls carving his "release." Over the last week, Kaiser said he has put in a few hours every day and the bear is really getting its shape.

"It is a little fatter than I wanted it to be, so I have to round it out a little more," he said, pointing at the towering sculpture. "It's like they say, you just have to cut everything away that is not a bear."

And the neighbors?

"Our neighbors love it," Carolyn said. "And we love it even more because people slow down when they drive by to look at it and it slows down traffic on this road. That is always a good thing."

Kaiser said he expects to work on the bear a little more here and there, adding more and more detail and staining the bear. Have a stump left from Irene that you want to turn into a work of art? Kaiser can be reached by email at rtist05@yahoo.com.