Having spent many years climbing trees with a chainsaw for arboricultural purposes, chainsaw carving has become a recent addition to my repertoire.
Carving is just as dirty, noisy and dangerous as logging but it is far more interesting trying to create something rather than just firewood.
Where possible I use the natural form inherent in each piece to determine the final form of the piece. This is partly because some pieces of wood are crying out for enhancement as opposed to be redesigned.
Whether it is an indecipherable abstract, an attempt at a specific thing or a minimalist cut approach using the form and texture already there, somewhere there is a piece of wood, cut or waiting to be cut.
Finding the right piece of wood is the logical thing to do but I seem to find the right thing to carve from the specific piece of wood.
Finishes are so far 'au naturel' and splits are expected due to the nature of the material being used; namely green wood that will dry over a period of time
I could bore you with the details of the tools I use and how I go about deciding what will be created but you would probably skip that bit anyway.