Gregory Glynn takes his whittling to a whole new level.

Bainbridge Island peeled away the layers of sculptor Gregory Glynn’s artistic soul, bringing him back to a realm he had always loved but never embraced as his creative calling.

“My environment really influenced my art,” said Glynn, who has worked as an artist for 12 years. “Being surrounded by wood is really interesting. I go on hikes and come across really interesting stuff. I explore it and try to understand it.”

Growing up in Massachusetts, Glynn spent hours in the woods whittling branches. He enjoyed splitting firewood and examining the layers, “a physical history of growth. It made him feel like he was looking into the past and understanding the trees.

He came west to study sculpture at the University of Washington. His new island environs opened his mind to working with nature’s bounty – stone, trees and vegetation – which he crafted into installations. His aim shifted squarely to trees, and an exploration of their lives, from growth to decay, some five years ago.

Glynn is the recipient of wood pieces, which he stockpiles in his garage studio. Surrounded by an eclectic mix of knives, mallets, chisels, an adze and other hand tools, plus heavy-duty electrical tools, he studies each piece and begins to make cuts or peels.

His art captures the intertwined history of wood and island. Both change over time, decaying and growing, yet they remain beautiful and timeless.

Nature is the “supreme sculptor,” Glynn says. He merely honors the trees and presents their stories with as little of his representation as possible.

His “Six Split,” a 20-foot-tall maple sculpture, is part of the Bellevue Sculpture Exhibition, which displays works from 40 artists from Canada and Europe through October.

The exhibit program notes: “This sculpture was created by splitting a whole tree trunk lengthwise into six separated sections…the logs were then stood up and positioned in close proximity to how the tree once grew. The piece is an exploration of the tree as material and the tree as a life force. In my work I am interested in the simultaneous strength and fragility of nature and the resulting tensions that are created.”

Glynn’s works are abstract and reflective. “Foundation,” for example, a park installation below the Bill Point area, has the dimensions of a house foundation. Since Scotch broom and houses have invaded the park: “Which is more invasive, the plant or us?”

Glynn’s works are well known on the island. He has executed private commissions, shown pieces at Island Gallery and was part of “Collocation,” an art exhibit last year in Pritchard Park.

“You have to see (his works) and get the little story about them,” said Jared Hankins, owner of Castle Wood Gallery in Poulsbo, where his exhibit “Heartwood” in on display this month. “I think (people) will find a connection. People have shown a genuine interest in his pieces.”

Hankins first saw Glynn’s art at an Island Gallery show last June.

“They struck me as being pretty unique and odd,” he said. “I went through his portfolio and was amazed at what I saw. His drive for what he’s doing is pretty upfront and permeable. He needs to do this. Part of his creating, it’s who he is.”

The “Heartwood” series investigates “the interior of the tree and the balance between strength and vulnerability.” The gallery’s barn setting serves the installation and new wood sculptures made from Pacific Yew and Ciaro Walnut, among others, well.

“The space is so unique. People from Bainbridge love to come here,” Hankins said of the five-acre property that houses a three-story castle house and the 1900s two-story barn. “It mixes the old with the new modern look.”

Glynn’s outdoor pieces take on new form as they peel.

“He likes to see the wood as it decays in the weather,” Hankins said. “You can really see over time what his pieces have become. I have not come across any other work like this.”

Glynn embraces newly cut, old growth and rotting wood with equal abandon. Some are gifts, some are pieces he finds himself. His studio and yard are filled with such riches.

“I’m not very good at throwing things away,” said Glynn, who also shops eBay for the hand tools he loves.

Lately, Glynn has been crafting pieces from a Pacific yew felled to make way for new construction.

“I was sad to see it come down, but interested in using it,” he said. “Most of the time I create as I go. You start a process of working, making a series of cuts or peeling a tree, investigating the material.”

**************

Wood works

Gregory Glynn’s “Heartwood” exhibit of wood sculptures is at Castle House Gallery in Poulsbo through Sept. 30. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays and by appointment on weekdays. Call (360) 598-4711 or see www.castlehousegallery.com.