Mountain Mike makes art with a chainsaw at the Carolina Classic Fair

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Mike Ayers is drawing a crowd at the Carolina Classic Fair.

“The first championship I went to was the world championship in Germany,” he said.  “I got second place.”

Better known as Mountain Mike, Ayers carves art out of wood with a chainsaw in record time.

“I’ve got the record for bears,” Ayers said. “I did 28 [bears] in an hour.”

Ayers is from Maggie Valley and got the bug of creating art from his grandmother.

“I’ve been drawing since I was a kid. My Grandmother was an artist, and I learned a lot from her,” he said. “I grew up in a cabinet shop so I did have a woodworking background.”

He’s been creating art for more than a dozen years. Many of those years were spent at the Carolina Classic Fair.

“October, November and December everybody wants Christmas stuff,” Ayers said.

He puts on several shows throughout the day at the fair which draws a lot of interest and smiles.

“That smile it puts on people’s faces,” he said.  “They come by, and it just makes them smile.”

You can find him in the Village of Yesteryear at the Carolina Classic Fair and on social media at Mountain Mike’s Whetstone Woodworks.

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