Steffen Merla is the very definition of a roadside attraction on this foggy July day in Half Moon Bay.

Standing at well over six feet tall, he would be hard to miss wielding his roaring chainsaw next to Highway 92 at Firewood Farms. A dozen blocks of pink redwood encircle him as he carves up each faceless hunk in less than 12 minutes, transforming them into a family of adorable owls. All the while, the cars zip by. Drivers are no doubt doing double takes, as they catch him from the corner of their eye, enveloped in a cloud of spitting sawdust as he carves through a masterful dance.

This is Merla’s fourth visit from his home base of Oldenburg, Germany, as a resident artist to Firewood Farms. Merla has been creating custom chainsaw art sculptures for Firewood Farms customers for the past two years, ever since owners Caroline Olsen and James Harper purchased the business in 2014.

“He showed up at the wood yard one day,” says Olsen. “We do get a lot of drifters that come through here that are chainsaw artists. Steffen’s really the only one that we’ve had a successful business relationship with because he’s very level-headed.” Olsen recalls giving him a small piece of wood to test his skills and was amazed with the small owl he created.

Olsen and Harper have since built a friendship with the German national, too. They host Merla in their La Honda home during his visits.

“He’s uber efficient. He’s a very kind man. He’s a teacher at home, so I think that says a lot about his personality,” says Olsen.

Merla began working with wood two decades ago in Germany, creating furniture. He now works full time as a teacher in Germany for children living with special needs, teaching woodcraft and metalwork. He says the hands-on lessons help his students learn bigger life skills.

“They see they can finish something. And they’re happy they can create their own thing by themselves. It gives them a good feeling for the future,” says Merla.

Merla says working with wood has opened up his future as well.  He plans to break the Guinness World Record next year by creating the biggest bear woodcarving in the world. He says it will be more than 30 feet high. He is currently raising money through an online crowdfunding site and plans to carve the bear in Germany.

“I really like crazy projects and that’s probably one of the most crazy projects. I would like to do something that, when I pass away, everyone will remember this project,” he says.

He plans to glue together blocks of pinewood to carve this giant bear instead of cutting down one enormous tree. And once the bear is finished, he says he will sell it and donate half of the profits to the school he works for and the other half to a non-profit of the funder’s choice.

Merla says it’s much easier for him to realize his ideas with a chainsaw than a pencil.

“I’m not really good at drawing. I have to see it in 3-D. When I see it in 3-D it’s not a problem for me to figure out the proportions, but when I have to draw something on a sheet of paper it’s really hard for me,” he says.

He evolved into chainsaw carving as a way to speed things up.

“I learned by myself. That’s the best way I think—trial and error,” he says.

In Germany, he also enters speed-carving competitions in which contestants are given 30 minutes to carve one thing and then place their creations up for sale. Whoever sells a piece for the most money wins the championship.

And there is no place more satisfying than Half Moon Bay and Firewood Farms for a chainsaw artist like Merla who has a need for speed. At home he carves German oak, which is a hard wood and takes longer than carving the soft woods around Half Moon Bay.

“When he’s here he only carves redwood. It carves like butter and he loves it,” says Olsen.

“I’ve never seen so much wood in Germany like here and really big sizes,” says Merla. “It’s pretty crazy for a guy like me to see wood like here,” he says.

Despite the fact that he can’t bring much more than a small owl or heart carving back to his girlfriend in Germany after every visit, he says he loves his visits to Half Moon Bay just the same.

“I really love the coast here—the scenery and especially the fog. You can work in the summertime here,” he says.

And Olsen says he leaves behind something priceless for their clients.

“I feel like he almost makes people’s dreams come true,” she says. “One woman had this photograph in her home of a lifeguard and had always wanted a sculpture just like the picture she’d kept. She was driving by one day and told me her story. If you want a piece you can have anything done. There are not any limits.”

On his visit in July, Merla created a bird condominium for a client in San Mateo. The client had an oak tree and loved birds, so Merla carved little houses into her huge oak stump to entice birds to come visit her backyard.

Olsen says Merla’s chainsaw sculptures also align perfectly with Firewood Farms’ eco-friendly business model.

“We’re a reclamation yard, 100%,” says Olsen. “We didn’t cut down anything. We actually saved it from going into the landfill and we’re giving it new life and new meaning.”

And Merla has some good advice for those just taking their first steps down the road to chainsaw carving.

“Don’t give up. When you start, everything is hard, but don’t give up. Especially when you think you did the wrong cut, further on. Try to do the best of this piece. Don’t stop it. Most people throw it away and take a new piece. The best things come out when you do a wrong cut. So try to finish. You will see it in the end,” says Merla.

To see more of Merla’s work visit his website at www.kreativ-holzart.de