BILL'S DUCK CARVING

Meet the Artist

My interest in waterfowl carving developed through outdoor sporting outings as a duck hunter. At the conclusion of the hunting season I tried carving decoys as a hobby to pass the long winter months. My interest was expanded when I read about competition decorative carving.
My first decoys were carved in the 1970s and given to family and friends. I began attending art shows and selling my work in 1989.
I now carve year round after retiring from the education field after a 45 year career.

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THE CARVING PROCESS

Unique individually carved and painted customized decoys

The waterfowl decoys that I carve are done one at a time. Each individually rendered species begins with a block of Tupelo wood. A pattern to the scale of a life size duck is developed to present a pleasing shape for the decoy. I then use a band saw to remove the excess wood. No part of the decoy is mass produced. Each duck is hand carved by me as a unique sculpture.
A foredom machine with a flexible shaft is used with different bits to rough out the shape of the block. Knives and small cutters are used to carve individual feathers and add texture. The entire bird is wood burned (manually one line at a time) to provide realism and feather softness. I hand paint my decorative decoys with acrylic paint. The entire process (carving, texturing, burning, painting) takes 100 to 150 hours of effort per bird.