POCATELLO — A local chainsaw artist is back in business after a fellow Pocatelloan donated a new chainsaw to replace two that had stopped working.

Jamie Covington, who owns CovsCreations, said he turned to Facebook to find a solution, posting on the Life in Pocatello page to ask if anyone had a chainsaw he could use.

“I had a guy reach out to me,” Covington said. “He’s a tree cutter in Pocatello.”

The man gave Covington a brand-new chainsaw identical to the one he had before.

“He just wanted a carving of a raccoon whenever I had the chance to make one,” Covington said.

Covington, who grew up in Blackfoot but has been a long time Pocatello resident after his time in the military, got into chainsaw carving after helping a friend cut down a tree. He said he was immediately hooked the moment he picked up the saw.

“I fell in love with them,” Covington said. “He said to just leave the stump, and I asked if I could make something out of it. After that, I was hooked.”

Covington has been making chainsaw art for about two years and has built a following for his work.

“I take them to art walks and some of the vendors around Pocatello,” Covington said. “I sell some stuff on Facebook Marketplace.”

It didn’t take long for Covington to learn the craft. He said carving with a chainsaw came naturally to him, even though drawing on paper does not.

“A lot of people ask for a drawing of what I’m going to carve,” Covington said. “It’s hard to explain that I can’t draw. I just have to do it.”

For Covington, the best part of the job is seeing customers’ reactions when they pick up their carvings.

“It’s nice to see someone appreciate the things you do,” Covington said.

Anyone interested in ordering a carving can reach Covington on Facebook at facebook.com/CovsCreations.

“I can pretty much carve whatever people want,” Covington said. “There’s nothing I won’t do.”