LAKE COUNTY — Mark Colp knows his way around a chainsaw and anyone who passes by Wooden Creations, his shop on Soda Bay Road just outside the Lakeport city limits, can vouch for that.
Colp, 48, is a precision chainsaw artist and has been for more than 30 years, following in his father”s footsteps. Originally from Edmonton, Canada, Colp moved to Lake County at 17 to be with his father and finished school at Lower Lake High School. He soon began working in his dad”s wood carving shop.
“I started right out of high school,” Colp said. “It”s all I”ve ever done. It”s been fun.”
His distinctive skills landed him a sponsorship by Echo Chainsaws, more than 100 awards from various competitions throughout the years and most recently, a spot on a reality program about chainsaw wood carvers.
The show, Saw Dogs, airs Saturday at 9 p.m. on Velocity, a high-definition channel that is owned by the Discovery Channel. The show was shot on a ranch in a remote part of British Columbia near the town of Whistler in the Squamish Valley.
Colp said the show is similar to the Discovery show “American Chopper” because there are deadlines to follow and situations arise that create stress. The carvers have to work together on a carving project with a three to four day time limit to deliver it to the customer. Colp said the show isn”t overly dramatic like many of the reality shows out there.
“It”s as real as real can be,” he said. “It”s as far from ?Jersey Shore” as you can imagine.”
He said the show”s creator, Steve Blanchard, is a wood carver and wanted to show the artistry behind the medium. The two met before and Blanchard asked Colp to come participate. Colp said he is known in the industry for his speed and ability.
Filming for the 10-episode season began a few weeks before his arrival. Originally supposed to be there for a two-episode run, Colp”s speed kept him there for the remaining seven episodes. His wife, Barbara, ran the shop for awhile before joining him for the last few weeks of filming.
Colp said filming was a lot of fun, even with long days and a lot of stopping and starting to accommodate the film crews. He enjoyed the scenery of the Squamish Valley.
“It was a beautiful setting,” he said, adding that he saw many eagles, bears and elk during the course of his filming, which began at the end of September and wrapped up in early November.
Colp said he participated to bring awareness to the artform and for people to respect it. He said it will be great for people to see the show and be amazed by the setting and visuals of the show. “I think it”ll be something folks will want to watch,” he said, adding that it is fast-paced and families will enjoy it. He said he hopes the show inspires folks to become interested in it or other alternative forms of art.
Colp said if it is possible for a second season, he would be a part of it. He enjoyed working with the other carvers and made friends, including producer Blanchard. He said the carvers came to the artform from all walks of life, including one that was a former concert promoter and another that used to work for Boeing.
He said the network executives were “very excited” about the show. He saw a part of the first episode, which he is not in, and said it looked great and was exciting.
Colp said many people watch him carve while at the Lake County Fair each year. “This gives them the opportunity to watch me carving from their couch,” he said.
Saw Dogs will air Saturdays at 9 p.m. on Velocity, which can be found on Mediacom channel 841, DISH Network channel 364 and DIRECTV channel 281.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
