Bow, WA

Joe Treat sold insurance for over 20 years. As he was nearing retirement age and worried about becoming bored, he took up woodworking -- but he was not happy with his results. Joe couldn't make things square and straight.

Then he found a piece of twisted driftwood and realized that with just a little work it would look like an animal.

Now Joe's yard is home to a sea monster (with a bird's nest in its mouth), an alligator (with a paperboy in its mouth), a Bigfoot, African wildlife, unicorns, dinosaurs, and a zombie rising from the dead.

The menagerie is always changing as people keep buying the art, even though Joe has never considered himself an artist.