A lone wolf lifts its snout to howl at the moon.  A large eagle swoops down, its sharp talons capturing a wriggling fish.  A short, stout bear grins and grasps the rope swing upon which it sits, as a 12-foot totem pole looms in the background.

No, this isn't the latest Discovery Channel special.  You'll find this and more in the Broadway Road front yard and red-clapboard farmhouse of Larry and Karen Armstrong, 30-year residents of Warren.

Larry Armstrong, 73, a retired mechanic, began experimenting with wood sculpture 15 years ago, after taking a free adult night course.  The howling wolf was his first successful carving.

"I had two long-haired German shepherds and they were often mistaken for wolves," says Armstrong, about the inspiration behind this first attempt.  "I think a wolf is a mystical creature.  And I had a chainsaw and a log, so I said 'let's see what happens.'"

Armstrong references wood carving design books and photographs to re-create these wooden replicas of nature.  And he's partial to Native American art.

"I've always been interested in Native American [designs], particularly the Northwest," he says.  "[Their artwork] is spiritual.  It's not something that you worship or idolize.  It is things that they see in nature in a particular way.  And that's kind of cool."

"I like the stories that go with the Native American art.  I like the folklore," says Karen, 67.  "Each animal has a particular meaning.  Each family has a totem pole and the totem pole tells the story of the family."

Armstrong has carved several totem poles, starting with a chainsaw and a log, then utilizing hand chisels and other small carving tools to etch out the finer details.

His workshop is an old horse stable, heated by a cast-iron, wood-burning stove.  His tools include a 70-year-old band saw he found discarded on the side of the road and 90-year-old wood clamps he discovered in a junk yard.

Here, he sculpts some of the more finer pieces—pine and maple relief carvings of Native American owls, ravens, salmon and other spiritual creatures.

"He does extremely fine work," says his wife.  "Sometimes I look at his hands and they're huge.  Yet he can do this tremendously fine, detailed artwork."

For the last 38 years, Armstrong has been a volunteer firefighter in New Providence, although he no longer goes out on fire calls.  He and his wife have two children and seven grandchildren.

"I get tremendous satisfaction out of taking a scrap piece of wood and turning it into something the grandkids will probably hang on their wall some day," he says.