From Oak Harbor to Paisley Park: Whidbey artist brings wood to life

For many people, the COVID-19 lockdown was a time of fear, uncertainty and complete boredom. For people like Chad Pilkington, it was a time of discovery and productivity.

Being unable to pursue his “addiction” to racquetball, Pilkington had to find a new interest to keep himself busy. He decided to repair a guitar his mother gifted him in 1984, watching YouTube videos to make up for his complete lack of experience in wood carving.

Realizing he enjoyed fixing the guitar more than he enjoyed playing it, he decided to build a new one himself, shaped like an Egyptian hieroglyph. After that, he carved hearts for his coworkers.

“And then next thing you know everything started growing legs and wings on it,” he said.

After the hearts came the Whidbey Island sculptures, followed by the orcas, the Whidbey-shaped orcas and, last but not least, the Whidbey-shaped Bruiser the Elk.

Often, the wood grain doesn’t give Pilkington much of a choice. If he sees an owl’s face or a sloth in the wood’s natural pattern, then he shall carve an owl or a sloth. His imagination, of course, also determines what shape the wood shall take. And so a knot can be the eye of an octopus, or the anus of an irreverent cat.

In four years, Pilkington has carved birds, aliens, phallic charcuterie boards, teeth, cowboy hats, turtles, dinosaurs, Bigfoot and even Pangea, the supercontinent that split into the seven continents we know today.

“I can say I’ve carved every piece of land on this planet,” he joked.

In 2022, his work reached Paisley Park, the museum that once was the house of late singer and songwriter Prince. Today, Pilkington’s sculpture that pays homage to Prince’s album, “Love Symbol #2,” is displayed on the wall in the late singer’s office.

His art particularly stands out for the colors, some of them almost too bright to be real, yet all natural, as the vast collection of wood boards in his garage prove. Some of his sculptures are formed by different woods seamlessly glued together in a rainbow of purple heart, bubinga, oak, maple, walnut, Tennessee cedar, padauk, bloodwood and more.

The only time he’s ever painted wood, he said, was when he created a series of American flags using blue paint.

Pilkington uses different tools to mold his creatures, such as the angle grinder router, the orbital sander, the jig saw and the Dremel. If the batteries were to run out, he assured, he would still be able to bring his creations to life. Simply, it would take more time and effort.

Some of the sculptures were donated, while others he keeps for himself. Wood, however, can be quite expensive. In order to support this hobby, Pilkington will be setting up an Etsy account where he can sell his work starting next month.

Though he enjoys sharing his work and appreciates the praise, Pilkington simply became a wood carver for his own enjoyment, always challenging himself with more complex projects that become bigger and bigger.

“Most people carve with what they’re comfortable with,” he said. “I don’t do that.”

Once he chooses the subject, Pilkington enters research mode, learning anything he can about things like mermaid lore, Egyptian history and Harry Potter.

When he’s not working at his contracting job, he’s at his garage in Oak Harbor, carving until his body is too sore to do so, often forgetting to eat.

He has become so absorbed in his new passion that he falls asleep thinking about a project he’s working on or a new idea, which he said is much better than repeatedly asking his insomnia to let him rest.

“There’ll never be a day in the rest of my life that I’ll be bored as long as I’m doing something like this,” he said.

Pilkington’s dog, Bane, reflected in the mirror/guitar inspired by singer and songwriter Prince. (Photo by Luisa Loi)

Chad Pilkington works on one of his latest creations, an octopus. (Photo by Luisa Loi)

One of Pilkington’s Whidbey Island sculptures. (Photo by Luisa Loi)

The Mythosaur, from the sci-fi tv show “The Mandalorian.” (Photo by Luisa Loi)

Pilkington, 51, is a big fan of science fiction and the movie “Alien,” which inspired him to carve a series of face hugger aliens. (Photo provided)

Pilkington mixed Bruiser the Elk and Whidbey Island together to create this scuplture. (Photo provided)

The Hulk. (Photo provided)

Chad Pilkington and his dog, Bane, pose with a wolf sculpture. Pilkington, 51, worked for 20 years as a corpsman biomed repair technician for the navy, repairing hospital equipment. He moved to Whidbey in 2018, and retired from the Navy in August 2023. (Photo provided)