A 15-foot tall sculpture of a hatchet now marks the parking area at Hand Cut Hollow mountain bike trail off of J road in Bentonville.
The 15-foot-long handle is hand carved from a local log weighing over 1,300 pounds, provided by Penny Hardwoods in West Fork. The 5-foot tall steel blade sinks into the earth as if thrown by Paul Bunyan.
Fittingly the sculpture was installed using a local logging truck to crane the blade and handle into place, thanks to Leffert Trucking on the first day of Autumn.
The hatchet was installed and built by California artist Jamie Vaida who is now splitting his time between the Bay Area and Bentonville.
Vaida has been sculpting with metal for over 20 years and had had sculptures at Coachella, Burning Man, and Telluride Fire Festival as well as many local sculptures around the country. Combining architectural metalwork and sculptural works. Vaida is excited to see how this beautiful part of the country is going to shape his new creations.
More of Vaida’s work can be seen on his website at www. jamievaida.com