Griffon Ramsey

Griffon Ramsey

Ramsey at RTX 2011
Born Griffon O'Connell
(1980-04-23) April 23, 1980
Eugene, Oregon
Nationality American
Known for Sculpture
Movement Chainsaw art
Spouse(s) Geoff Ramsey (m. 2005)
Website http://griffonramsey.com

Griffon E. Ramsey (born April 23, 1980) is an American chainsaw carving artist based in Austin, Texas best known for her pop-culture wood sculptures which have appeared at the Australian Chainsaw Carving Championships and the Butler Chainsaw Carving Invitational.[1][2][3] Several of her YouTube videos have attracted attention online, including her sculpting an Eastern red cedar into Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, which accumulated over 115,000 views in three days.[4] Her channel currently has over 3,300,000 video views and 80,000 subscribers.[5]

Background

Griffon Ramsey grew up in Oregon and was inspired by the carvings she saw as a child, including those of her grandfather.[6] She graduated summa cum laude in 2008 from Texas State University with a BFA in Theatre and began chain-saw sculpting in 2011.[7]

Prior to wood sculpting, Ramsey designed and painted playground markings at elementary schools in the Austin Independent School District in order to promote active learning.[8] The project was done in collaboration with Burl Norville and the University of Texas School of Public Health to, "utilize playground stencils to encourage physical activity."[9]

Ramsey worked for several years at Rooster Teeth Productions, during which time she created the video series Pajamachievements for Achievement Hunter, wrote and co-created Rooster Teeth Comics with artist Luke McKay, oversaw production design work and acted on series such as Immersion and RT Shorts and was a frequent guest on the Rooster Teeth Podcast.[10][11][12][13] She announced her departure from the company in October 2011.[14]

In 2013, she was the Production Designer on the indie film Grow Up, Tony Phillips. As of 2014, she stars in the bi-weekly Rooster Teeth series Happy Hour alongside her husband, Geoff Ramsey, and friend Gavin Free.[15]

Works

Ramsey working on a carving before an audience at RTX 2015.

Ramsey takes suggestions for carvings from fans via her Twitter feed.[4] She edits videos which she posts to her YouTube channel, highlighting the process behind each individual carving and explaining the motivations behind each piece.[7]

Ramsey draws inspiration from "street artists, folk artists, wood carvers, tinkerers, and in general, the self-taught, her work comes from a compulsive need to rearrange her environment and manifest the reality she would like to see."[16] Of her work, Gio Sasso commented, "Nobody thinks of a chainsaw as an elegant tool for fine detailed work but in the hands of Griffon it seems to be... Griffon is a fantastic artist in her own right."[17] Her original carving of an archeologist finding a genie, titled Professor Morris Finds a Lamp, received praise from Butler Chainsaw Carving Invitational organizer Damian Skal and was the most complicated sculpture she had completed.[2][18]

In October 2011, her carving of the Crimson Omen logo from the Gears of War franchise attracted attention from multiple gaming sites and was called "the most apropos Gears of War tribute ever" by Kotaku.[19][20]

In October 2014, her video of sculpting an Eastern red cedar into Groot, based on the tree-like character from Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, accumulated over 115,000 views in three days and was posted to many geek culture sites, including Gizmodo, io9 and Geekologie.[4][21][22][23][24][25] In November 2014, she drew attention for carving Elsa from Disney's Frozen after being inspired by her daughter's love of the character.[26][27][28] In December 2014, Ramsey was invited by Stihl to carve a special piece celebrating the company's 40th Anniversary.[29]

In January 2015 Ramsey participated in the Australian Chainsaw Carving Championships, carving a story book from The Neverending Story, for which she won the People's Choice Award.[1][30] In February 2015, she attracted attention within the gaming community for carving Majora's Mask, a life-sized replica of the facepiece from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.[31][32][33] In September 2015 Ramsey participated in the Scottish Open Chainsaw Carving Championships.[34]

References

  1. 1 2 Tapp, Jessica. "Chainsaw-wielding competitors turn wood logs into art at Australian championship in Melbourne". ABC Australia. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 Phillipps, Ed. "Talented Butler chainsaw artist will show off skills in annual invitational". triblive.com. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Griffon Ramsey Today interview". 9jumpin.com.au. Today. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Fechter, Joshua. "Texas woman carves 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' sculpture with a chainsaw". mysanantonio. San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Griffon Ramsey". YouTube. 2011-04-07. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
  6. ↑ Wong, Donny. "The art of Griffon Ramsey". www.myfoxaustin.com. KTBC Fox 7. Archived from the original on 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  7. 1 2 Pelham, Alex. "Artist Griffon Ramsey carves pop culture sculptures out of wood". dailytexanonline. The Daily Texan. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  8. ↑ Goodnow, Natalie. "The Active Play Project: Getting Kids Moving". Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "AUSTIN ISD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS RECEIVE FUNDS FOR WELLNESS PROGRAM". Austin ISD Innovation. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "A Beginner's Guide to the Best Podcasts on the Web". HighSnobriety. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Garcia, Jozef. "Internets in Real Life (RvBTO 2009)". vimeo. RvBTO. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  12. ↑ Bolling, Ben; Smith, Matthew J. (Feb 12, 2014). It Happens at Comic-Con: Ethnographic Essays on a Pop Culture Phenomenon. McFarland. p. 120.
  13. ↑ Miller, Liz Shannon. "The Red Vs. Blue Guys Get Real With Immersion". gigaom.com. Gigaom. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  14. ↑ Ramsey, Griffon. "Transition". RoosterTeeth.com. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Roomba Death Match - Happy Hour #1". YouTube. RooosterTeeth. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "BIRD SILHOUETTES: Designed and Painted by Griffon Ramsey with Assistance by Burl Norville". Art Alliance Austin. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  17. ↑ Sasso, Gio. "Groot, Carved With a Chainsaw". Chainsaw Journal. Chainsaw Journal. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  18. ↑ "Meet Griffon Ramsey, a chainsaw artist.". www.wowzeto.com. Wowzeto. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  19. ↑ Narcisse, Evan. "Chainsaw Art: The Most Apropos Gears of War Tribute Ever". Kotaku. Kotaku. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  20. ↑ Patterson, Eric L. "Gears of War tribute—crafted with a chainsaw". www.egmnow.com. Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  21. ↑ Domanico, Anthony. "I am Groot, made with a chainsaw". CNET. CNET. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  22. ↑ Chan, Casey. "Chainsaw Artist Transforms A Log Into Groot From Guardians Of The Galaxy". Gizmodo Australia. Gizmodo. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  23. ↑ Whitbrook, James. "We have reached peak Groot Crafts: This one was carved with a Chainsaw". Toybox. io9. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  24. ↑ Paur, Joey. "Chainsaw Artist Sculpts Groot from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY". geektyrant.com. Geek Tyrant. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  25. ↑ "Appropriate: Chainsaw Artist Carves Groot From Stump". geekologie.com. Geekologie. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  26. ↑ Newton, Mark. "Sculptor Creates Elsa Sculpture... With a Chainsaw!". MoviePilot. MoviePilot. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  27. ↑ Duncan, JJ. "Watch a Chainsaw Artist Carve Elsa from 'Frozen' Out of a Log". www.zimbio.com. Zimbio. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  28. ↑ Burlingame, Russ. "Sculptor Who Carved Groot Out of Wood Does Elsa From Frozen". comicbook.com. ComicBook.com. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  29. ↑ "Griffon Ramsey Chainsaw Carving for STIHL Inc.'s 40th Anniversary". STIHL USA. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  30. ↑ "Griffon Ramsey (USA) accepting her award from Lee Gooch (STIHL Australia) for 'Neverending Story'". www.stihl.com.au. Stihl Australia. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  31. ↑ Plunkett, Luke. "Chainsaw vs Tree = Majora's Mask". Kotaku. Kotaku. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  32. ↑ Parrish, Robin. "Chainsaw Artist Creates Life-Sized Majora's Mask". Tech Times. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  33. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle. "Watch A Giant Piece Of Wood Turn Into Majora's Mask With The Help Of A Few Chainsaws". Game Informer. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  34. ↑ "Strongest female challenge to Carve Carr-Bridge title". BBC. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
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