SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In the backwoods of Bedford County, you may just see a pile of pine. But to Dave Marshalek, it's a chance to fire up his chainsaw and cut straight into his next project. He loves taking dead wood and bringing it back to life.
"You can see the difference in his personality already," said Marshalek.
Dave makes his cuts so quickly, it may feel a little haphazard.
"The speed of the tool is what I enjoy -- plus there’s a little element of danger," he says with a mischievous chuckle.
But once he burns away a thin layer of sawdust and brings out his sander, is when you really start to see the complexity of his creations.
"It’s amazing isn’t it? Especially the sanding after the burn. Now the personality starts to come out," says Marshalek.
And fittingly, the same thing could be said for the artistic creator. Dave always dreamed he'd become a professional artist, but then life got in the way.
"Back in the 80s, I studied stone carving and I thought that was going to be my career," he said. "You wake up one day with a wife and kids and a mortgage and you need a real job — and so the dream goes away."
That's when things got dark for Dave.
"Got mad at God when my dad died in 1985. Stopped going to church and stopped praying," said Marshalek.
Art felt like a stain on his life, so he walked away from that too. He became a mixed martial arts fighter and a bouncer — and realized he didn't just enjoy violence, he sought it out.
"I thought — what is happening here? I was just smoking people and it was — it shouldn’t be fun. That was not the way I was raised," said Marshalek. "And I said a prayer on the way home from a particularly bad night — and got my art hands back, and I never went back to the club."
Eventually, a little art on the side started to become his full-time job. But even that wasn't totally fulfilling.
"You’re going to walk a show, there’s going to be 15 guys all with Welcome Bears," said Marshalek.
That's when Dave decided he'd no longer settle for the standards when, deep down, he has an eye for the eccentric.
"The more bizarre the better," he said with a laugh.
Vikings, brawling brutes and yes, even Bigfoot, are about to guard his Bedford County farm, which even more soon on the way.
"What’s coming is — this will be a sculpture park. There will be a school of mermaids swimming through the trees. There will be beasts coming out of the ground," said Marshalek.
And while he made the change for himself, he says he's seeing an even bigger boom in business, after his conversion to the unconventional.
"I like creating things that you can walk around and occupy a space with ya. It’s cool," he said.
Because we may only see piles of pine, but Dave Marshalek sees a world of his own making.
"It’s a wonderful life now," he said. "This was my gift, and I wasn’t using it. Now I am."
