MARIES COUNTY — What first catches a passerby’s attention to the property on Highway B outside of Bland isn’t the unassuming workshop where hours, days, or even months are spent on projects, it’s the intricate carvings rising from the landscape.

A massive eagle in front. A towering jackalope outback. Bears, dinosaurs and other whimsical characters in the yard all seem to emerge naturally from the timber, as if they’d always belonged there.

For Hank Scheel of Unconditional Carving, those wooden sculptures represent far more than artistic talent. They represent survival.

“I had carbon monoxide poisoning,” Scheel said. “I lost mobility in my limbs... I got some brain damage, and I started hallucinating really bad.”

For months after the incident, Scheel was confined to bed.

“I’d been in bed for like three or four months in the fetal position, just seeing all this imagery,” he said. “It was like natives (Native Americans) and Norse mythology stuff.”

Those visions would eventually become the inspiration for his artwork.

The turning point came after he and his wife watched a television show, A Cut Above, featuring chainsaw carving on Discovery.

“I told her, ‘I think I can carve,’” Scheel said.

His wife responded with encouragement, even going the extra mile to show her husband how much she supported his idea.

“She went and bought me a chainsaw and a little carving bar,” he said.

Scheel had done some woodworking before his injury, building items such as a chair for a benefit and a stool, but nothing resembling sculpture. His first attempt was a tree spirit.

“I was like, ‘Ah, that’s pretty good,’” Scheel said.

Next came a bear. Then he began work on the enormous walnut eagle that still stands near the end of his driveway, complete with a Native American figure carved into the back.

The project took nearly four months to complete.

“It got me out of the house,” he said. “I was just doing it underneath the light out here in the front yard or just whenever I could get out of bed.”

Ironically, Scheel says he wasn’t artistic before the accident.

Asked whether he had ever drawn or painted, he laughed.

“No. I still can’t,” he said.

Yet in only three years, he has produced carvings that easily draw attention from Highway B travelers, for their size and intricacies of the work.

Despite the growing collection surrounding his property, Scheel said most of the pieces he created are no longer there.

“Most all of my carvings have been given away,” Scheel said.

That generosity reflects a dramatic change in outlook following his accident.

Before then, he said, life revolved around earning money. Today, his focus is different. One example sits near the workshop.

A brightly colored Lorax, inspired by Dr. Seuss, was carved after one of Scheel’s young sons asked for it. The boy later painted the sculpture.

When asked what it means to see his children embrace creativity, Scheel paused and remarked on his son’s kindness instead.

“I carved that Lorax, and he said, ‘You know, Dad, when somebody comes and really likes him, I’ll let him have it,’ and that makes me feel good,” he said.

Scheel admitted he likes that his own generosity has rubbed off on his son.

“I was so driven for money most of my life before,” he said. “But it’s good that he has the giving nature.”

The carvings have also opened unexpected doors.

Scheel has traveled twice to Alaska to participate in large-scale ice carving events, experiences that allowed him to work alongside accomplished artists while continuing to develop his own skills.

He also teaches carving whenever his schedule allows.

“I’ve got two people that come here that actually are helping around the farm,” he said. “I’m trying to show them, and that gets me up and gets me carving.”

While the sculptures attract attention, they are only part of a much larger vision. Scheel and his family are building more than a workshop. They’re creating a destination centered on creativity, healing and community.

“The whole thing was that the art saved me,” Scheel said. “I mean, there’s no doubt about it. And whenever I started taking chisel carving classes, a lot of those guys are elderly individuals, and a lot of them have PTSD, and they use it as this. I mean, it’s just art therapy.”

He said carving classes became another form of therapy after his injury.

“Once I got hurt, my doctors even would tell me to go to carving classes as much as possible,” he said.

Now he hopes to offer that same opportunity to others.

Plans are already underway to expand the property with a dedicated carving studio. The family recently purchased enough canvas to sew 10 teepees and hopes to transform a barn into an artistic gathering space. Future plans also include pottery, woodworking, and drying kilns.

“We’re hoping to retain the big carvings as draws for people to actually want to come,” Scheel said. “And then we want to make it where we can help people that are fighting issues like I am.”

His vision extends well beyond chainsaw carving.

“I’ve got the hookups now for all the chainsaw carvers. I’ve got a lot of hookups for chisel carvers. We want to do pottery and just kind of anything,” he said.

Ultimately, the workshop he envisions is also something more personal.

“How do I make a world that I can live in,” he asked. “Or carve out this world the way that I can carve wood to be able to sit and have classes for myself?”

Around him, towering sculptures stand as proof that sometimes life’s greatest tragedies can become the starting point for something entirely unexpected. Those carvings may have begun as a way for one man to heal, but if Scheel realizes his vision for Unconditional Carving, they may one day help many others do the same.

People interested in following Scheel’s work or learning more about his vision for Unconditional Carving can find the organization on Facebook. Scheel also said those interested in supporting the project through donations of equipment, materials or other assistance are encouraged to reach out through the business’s Facebook page.