Tree art enlivens Annandale street

A dragon appeared last week on the corner of Old Columbia
Pike and Downing Street in Annandale. It’s threatening a damsel in distress,
but a knight is coming to her rescue. A wizard is expected to make an
appearance soon.

A block away, a 12-foot tall cat is standing guard in front
of 4026 Downing Street.

All those figures are sculptures carved out of tree trunks
by artist Andrew Mallon.  

A former professional carpenter, Mallon transforms dead
trees into imaginative figures. He’s done an eagle in front of a home in
Arlington and a huge bear in Pimmit Hills.

“I picked up hand carving six or seven years ago and found I
had a really good visual ability to create whatever I wanted,” says Mallon,
an Arlington native who lives in Falls Church. After a while, he decided hand
carving took too long, so he switched to using a chainsaw.

Eventually he was able to quit carpentry and work full-time
on sculptures. His company, AM Sculptures, is based at Eco Friendly Lumber, in Catharpin, Va., in Prince William County. He also creates smaller
sculptures and furniture.

Got an old tree that needs to come down? Mallon will turn
into a work of art in just two or three days. He charges $800 a day.