NORTH BLOOMFIELD, Ohio - It's an old Eastern European wood-carving technique that's found its way to Ohio. It's called "Fan Carving," and North Bloomfield's Chandra Peterson is using it to create unique works of art.

"It all moved with the soldiers. They would have some downtime and they carved. They carved birds, they carved buckets," said Peterson.

Peterson meticulously slices feather after feather, shaping blocks of wood into one-of-a-kind birds. When you see them up-close, you understand why she was so intrigued. Two years ago, Chandra decided to try making them on her own.

"So I finally went online to buy a book and the same author kept coming up. So I called the author to purchase the book and they ended up inviting me to their studio in Michigan and teaching me themselves," said Peterson.

She's been carving ever since, creating what she calls "Chandra's Passions."

"Each one literally takes days, by the time I get the carving, the drying, the sanding, and all the pretty stuff I put on it. But the carving alone, depending on the size is anywhere from two hours to a whole day," said Peterson.

After all the carving and slicing, she takes the wet white cedar and folds each sliver into place; piece by piece giving them wings.

"I usually end up getting a group around. The whittling part and stuff, that's the boring stuff, but the actual carving off each feather is one slice of wood. They're just amazed at how thin I can make those feathers without cutting them off," said Peterson.

Every single project starts out as just a single block of wood.

"Depending on the grain and how it looks, it kind of tells me what bird it wants to be," said Peterson.

Each one has its own little personality, along with a touch of history; an old technique creating new art in the Valley.

You can learn more about her work at chandraspassions.com or by checking out the Chandra's Passions facebook page.