Trying to stave off restlessness after he'd sold his share of his construction company, Markley "Mark" Noel had this bright idea: He'd take down a tree from his property and carve it into a wooden chain, perhaps making something long enough to qualify him for a Guinness World Record. He figured he could do the project in about 800 hours, spread throughout two to three years."Well, that's been eight years ago and ... at least 3,000 hours" of carving and working on the tree, said Noel, 56.
Now Noel is planning to do an official measurement of the 480-foot chain and trying to have Guinness World Records recognize his piece of folk art -- what he calls his "Chain of Life." The continuous chain of interlocked wooden links was carved from a single slab of wood measuring 25 feet long, about 25 inches wide and 2.5 inches thick. The 1,993 links are 4 inches long by about 1.5 inches wide and about a half inch thick.So, why undertake a project like this?"Maybe the 'why' of it is 'why not?'" Noel responded.He compared his project to climbing Mount Everest or attempting some other major feat.
"I think everybody has the need to really do something that's larger than they are," he said.Plus, Noel added, the project in part is an attempt to be recognized as an artist. "I want to be an eccentric artist for a while," he said.By carefully measuring and marking off about 15 rows -- or what he calls courses -- on the plank, Noel was able to sketch out alternating horizontal and vertical interlocking links. As he carefully carved out each link, he created an interlocking pattern.Noel said the links cannot be broken or glued back together or they would violate the rules set forth by Guinness World Records.
Before Noel cut down the tree, he contacted Guinness World Records, which gave him specifications about the size and width of the links. He also learned that while no one held the kind of record he was attempting to set, a man from Germany was reportedly working on his own continuous wooden chain that measured more than 300 feet long. To make sure he topped that record, Noel made his goal to create a chain almost 500 feet long.The retired builder started the project in October 2001 when he cut down a silver maple tree from his father's woodlot in Augusta.
When he started the project, Noel carefully cut three slabs of wood from his father's tree. But he only used one of the slabs for his "Chain of Life."Because the slab had to dry for a year, Noel wasn't able to cut his first link from it until December 2002. During the previous year, he applied a green wood stabilizer to the slab to help minimize cracking as it dried.
He said it took him about six weeks to carve the interlocking links from the top row of the plank, which was set up on its side in his wood shop. Each link took about an hour and a half to carve, using a variety of tools but mainly a rotary carving tool.The project began after Noel sold his part of the Hickory Builders remodeling business, in Richland, at what he called a stressful time in his life. As time went on, the "Chain of Life" began to serve as therapy for Noel as he worked his way through other challenges and losses in his life:
• His wife, Anne, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in May 2002 and died on July 17, 2003.
• Noel was left alone to raise the couple's 15-year-old son, Turner. Turner went on to graduate from Gull Lake High school and attend Purdue University and is now at the University of Michigan's engineering school.
• Eight days after his wife's death, a good friend, Lenny Walker, died of a massive heart attack.
• Noel was left alone to raise the couple's 15-year-old son, Turner. Turner went on to graduate from Gull Lake High school and attend Purdue University and is now at the University of Michigan's engineering school.
• Eight days after his wife's death, a good friend, Lenny Walker, died of a massive heart attack.
But there have been good times since then. Noel and Walker's widow, Laurie, who had known each other for more than 20 years and whose sons were lifelong friends, became a couple by January 2005 and became engaged in the spring of 2005.
"We found we were having fun," said Laurie Walker, who lives in Cleveland. "We were just comfortable and in love. It fits." They have not yet set a date for their wedding.Noel's sister, Melinda Scott, who contacted the Gazette about her brother's project, talked about its significance in his life.
"It became the chain of life," Scott said. "It kind of wound through this very difficult time in his life. This thing has become this giant metaphor (providing continuity through all the changes in his life), but he didn't intend for it to be this way."
And what did Noel think about while he was carving all those links?"I found as I was working on it," he said, "if I didn't remain focused on it, I would kind of start to overcarve them or they'd get too small or have imperfections in them."What I do is it's almost like yoga, and I try to think about nothing but what I'm doing right in front of me."I used it almost like therapy. And then as it went on, it became an obsession."