Alta. man brings dying trees back to life with creative wood art

An old tree transformed into fairytale art A local man with a passion for woodworking has transformed a menacing old tree into something straight out of a fairytale.

EDMONTON — Doug Pipke describes himself as a “wood hobbyist.”

He began his creative artwork in 2019 after retiring from an outdoor sales position. His talent is centred on creating unique objects with scrap wood.

“I build everything out of my head. I never do drawings, I don’t do diagrams. I’ll be sitting watching TV and I’ll be building in my head,” said Pipke.

Having dabbled with wood working in the past, he said his passion runs in the family; Pipke’s father was a carpenter and Pipke's son works in cabinetry.

But its Pipke's designs in dead trees which have brought him recent attention.

In Alberta Beach, rather than cutting the entire tree down, he left a portion of the tree to work with.

“Let’s keep about eight or nine feet of it because I know I can do something with it. I don’t know what I am going to do with it but I know I can do something with it,” he recalled thinking.

With incredible attention to detail, Pipke gave the old spruce tree a make-over filled with tiny doors, houses, and stairs carved into the tree.

The miniature “fairy-like” home lights up at night.

“The most rewarding part is as you go along, you make it a little bit different – and of course the end result,” he said.