One downside to Sloatsburg is Rt. 17 snaking through the central village, creating traffic backups and reducing the impulse to walk around. But there is an upside to having a river of cars flow by. And John Brownell out of Southfields has found a nice little oasis in the middle of that river.
With his trailer and truck located along a stretch of Pacific Pool & Spa’s property on Rt. 17, Brownell displays his chainsaw art and wood carvings to passersby.
“There are 30 thousand cars a day driving by here,” Brownell said, looking out at the passing traffic, his carved animals lined up in a neat row that creates an immediate roadside attraction.
Brownell’s business has picked up considerably since he set up shop on the highway — his hot carvings fresh out of the stump.
“Bears are the bread and butter,” he said, a four foot high figure of a bear reaching for a honey hive taking shape behind him, his small, worn chainsaw at rest on the ground nearby. Brownell said eventually the bear may even hold a spoon or fork in its hand.
Half size little brown bears can sell for $300 while the smaller eagles and other totems go for $100 and up.
Brownell has been working wood into small animals for nine years now. He said his friends nicknamed him Hillbilly, so he called his business Hillbilly Art, which also incorporates his custom wood work. “I’ve worked with a hammer and chisle for 30 years,” he said. “I’ve been around wood all my life. I cut trees down for a living.”
As a woodworker and wood lover, he saw the downed limbs and tree wood as a resource and a waste. So, he started turning good wood into something pleasing that would not only last but give him some income — an old hippie entrepreneur at heart. Brownell travels seasonally with his wood works, toting them in his Hillbilly Art trailer to festivals in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and upstate New York.
“I’m here every day up to Christmas,” he said, adding that he just may stay much longer if business remains brisk. “This is me, right here,” he said, gesturing to his wooden animals and trailer, which he has rigged out with a heater and awning to help with the weather conditions. Brownell said he seems to get more work done in the cold weather because the act of carving keeps him warm.
“I don’t want to get too rich,” Brownell said finally. “I just want to be an old hippie. I just want to do enough to feed me and my dog.”
John Brownell’s Hillbilly Art animal carvings can be found on Rt. 17 at Pacific Pool & Spa at least through Christmas.
