The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Inspiration strikes at the oddest times, often when we're doing something supremely ordinary.

For artist Sheryl Parsons, who creates holiday sculptures from gourds, driftwood, clay and repurposed objects, inspiration whisked in while she was chopping wood, back when she lived in North Pole, Alaska.

"I noticed that some of the slabs that chipped off when I missed the center of the logs had a shape that would lend itself to painting Santa figures on," Parsons remembers.

"The flat sides only needed a little sanding, and the rounded bark backs made for unique pieces."

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