Big cover story about Ed on HGTV

Sculptor carves his work into wood

Will get national exposure on cable channel

By Greg Harman — Staff writer

MELBOURNE — Growing up in a beach town offers many opportunities to many people.

The path of the engineer, attorney or doctor may be the aim most parents hope for their children. That was the path Ed Vollinino was shown and vociferously shied away from.

He said his parents frowned upon him following his passion of sculpting wood tiki sculptures — that is, until he started making money at it.

A film crew from the Home & Garden Television cable channel will be in Brevard County this weekend to feature Mr. Vollinino's work in an upcoming television show.

The crew will show Mr. Vollinino in the process of his sculpting and feature various spots around the county where his artwork is located.

"I always knew I was going to do something different with my life," he said. "I just didn't know what it would be."

Mr. Vollonino, now 47, discovered tiki sculpturing when he was 19 after graduating from high school. He immediately fell in love with the idea of pursuing art as a means to live.

He began doing carvings for tourists on the side of the road. He also began selling his creations in
.

Melbourne resident Ed Volonnino carves a tiki in his backyard last week. Mr. Volonnino has been making tikis for nearly 27 years. He finds wood wherever he can, using native sabal palm tree trunks. The trunks then have to dry out for about a year and a half until they can be carved.

Kaitlin Norton / staff photographer