Alicia Charlton discovered sculpting in 2000 and was drawn in instantly! It encompassed everything she had loved in her childhood. Nature- filled with texture, movement and life. Imagination-with its ability to see potential in everything, and placement-merging motion and emotion together to create a story. Sculpting captured all these things and Alicia immediately immersed herself in stone sculpting, being fatefully blessed with a mentor to walk along side her.

It was not until the Ridgway Rendezvous 2005 that Alicia felt the purr of a saw between her hands and yet another addiction formed. Picking up the chainsaw taught Alicia a whole new way of carving. A technique that was both challenging and quite rewarding allowed larger scale pieces of art to be created in a whirlwind of sawdust and speed. Gone was the initial grinding away one used with stone ,as the saw permitted aggressive blocking.

In May 2006, Alicia traveled to Louisiana to carve with the KatRita Wood Project. Using trees fallen from the hurricane, carvers from all around North America came to create art to raise money for the rebuild of New Orleans and surrounding areas. During those five months Alicia carved full time, meeting many talented carvers that not only touched her heart, but also expanded her knowledge of the craft, feeding a hunger to learn more to further the progression of her art.

She continues that journey still and is excited to be sharing it with 'Masters of the Chainsaw' and 'The Chainsaw Chix'. There are many roads left to go down and it is a great opportunity to do so with such an amazingly gifted group of individuals.

News article featuring Alicia:
"The wood can sometimes just speak to you, and you just let whatever it is happen within it," said Charlton, who will carve from 11 a. m. to 5 p. m. Saturday and Sunday at Lewiston's Academy Park (at the corner of Center and Ninth streets). "So often when you see the average chainsaw [piece], you see a bear and you see it very cookie-cutter. What I like to do is to bring soft curves into a piece that makes it look like it's not just a carving, but it's a sculpture - that it's actually art, not craft." Read the full article from the Buffalo News