Wayne Harrel

Wayne Harrel is a sculptor and lifelong creative from Portland, Oregon. He gathers local, rejected wood and focuses on its flaws to bring out a deeper beauty. From wind-fallen or sawmill-spurned maple, walnut, oak, fir, and cedar, he chisels, gouges, and power-tools his way to the mystery within, using fire and natural finishes to clarify and polish. Sometimes abstract, other times figurative, each work honors and celebrates the inner life of trees. Wayne’s been sculpting fulltime since 2022. Though he grew up in the woods and has always loved trees, a C in 7th grade shop sent him down a literary path, instead. He’s an award-winning playwright and lyricist, and has coached major CEOs on stage, told ghost stories to hospice workers, and helped John Cleese be funnier. But now he’s returned to the world of sawdust and splinters, happily so, because every tree has a story to tell, and Wayne is delighted to help them tell it.