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July 22, 2026
Some brains cannot sit still long enough to be careful. Ella Fielding found a machine that runs on exactly that.
Ella has a BA in Fine Art Sculpture, a Masters in Fine Art, and a chainsaw operator's license, and she uses all three to turn whole trees into monumental sculpture. But she left school at 14 because it was too traumatic to stay. She was quick with her hands and slow to get anything out of her head onto paper, and for most of her life nobody named why. She was 38, running her own art business and drowning in the admin, when a work coach kept mentioning ADHD and she kept insisting she was just dyslexic. Turns out it was both
.
Now she carves outside in full gear, running a machine most people won't touch and making it behave like a scalpel. Not despite the ADHD. Because of it. A chainsaw does not let you drift or second-guess or wait for the perfect plan. It demands you be right here, right now, which is the one place her brain has always worked best.
In this episode, Tracy and Ella get into the school years that nearly broke her, the "poof" moment where a thought vanishes the second she reaches for a pen, why immediate and physical beats slow and planned for a brain like hers, and how she reads her own overwhelm as a signal instead of a character flaw.
If you have ever been told you were too much, this one might reframe the whole thing.
“The art room was the one space where people could see what I could do. When the environment changed, I suddenly loved learning.”
- Ella Fielding
“If you go home to people who remind you that you are worth it, you can wash off a lot of the shame.”
- Ella Fielding
“A lot of making requires you to know the end before you start. That does not work for me. I do not always know what I am doing until I do it and see what happens.”
-- Ella Fielding
"Carving is like flow state. You start a cut, see where it ends, and discover what it wants to become."
-- Ella Fielding
"Using a chainsaw forces me to be in the moment. There is no room for my brain to run away with everything else."
-- Ella Fielding
"Chainsaw carving gives me space, peace, joy, agency, and the feeling that a thought can become an action."
- Ella Fielding
- Ella shares being diagnosed with ADHD at 38 after work communication became overwhelming.
- She describes childhood creativity, hearing issues, hyperactivity, and struggling in traditional school.
- Leaving school at 14 and entering a college-style setting helped her rediscover joy in learning.
[16:02 – 30:12] Sculpture, Physical Learning, and Chainsaw Discovery
- Ella explains how writing thoughts down felt harder than speaking or making physical work.
- Fine art sculpture gave her a tactile way to learn, create, and express ideas without forcing language.
- A childhood memory of a giant carved tree sculpture eventually leads her to a chainsaw artist.
[30:12 – 44:46] Flow, Chainsaw Carving, and ADHD Signals
- Ella describes chainsaw carving as immediate, physical, and fully absorbing in a flow-state way.
- She explains how the intensity of carving leaves no room for overthinking or mental noise.
- Ella reframes overwhelm and email avoidance as signals that she needs rest, structure, and care.
ADHD isn’t a productivity problem. It’s an identity problem.
That’s why most strategies don’t stick—they weren’t designed for how your brain actually works. Your ADHD Brain is A-OK Academy is different. It’s a patented, science-backed coaching program that helps you stop fighting your brain and start building a life that fits. 👉Learn more here
- Website: ellafielding.com
- Instagram: @ella.fielding.sculptor
- Facebook: @ellafieldingsculptor
- LinkedIn: ella-fielding-sculptor
