Artists that carve ?

John Klingenstein

John Klingenstein

Well-known member
To all carvers: Do you consider yourself an artist ?

How many decoy carvers do other types of art such as canvas paintings or pencil sketches or watercolors ?

Are you an artist that carves and hunts or a hunter that carves ?

As I look at all of the great carvers that we have at duckboats.net I always ask myself these questions.

Maybe the question is “Did you express artistic ability prior to carving ?
 
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John
yes I could hold a good pint of Beer, before I became a carver I was a p--s artist now I dont touch it. HeHeHe
take care and God Bless
Eddie.
Its all about Building that Bond
 
I got started carving simply as a way to "extend" the season and provide myself with something that I always wanted...hand carved blocks. So along those lines I am a hunter that carves. At this point in time I am just interested in adding decoys to my rig, not necessarily pursuing the artistic side of decoy carving. Perhaps in time I will mess around with those things, but for I just want nice gunning birds.

I took some art classes in college and as a kid always had an aptitude for drawing, especialy with charcoals and such. I think this has helped somewhat with my carvings but I still STRUGGLE with painting.
 
John, I have always been a pencil artist. Paints are new to me and have nothing to do with the talent that I possess as a sketch artist. I feel confident that I will (with much practice) excell in painting. But it is not coming as easy to me as I thought that it would.

I am definitely a hunter who has become a carver/painter...........................Kevin
 
As I posted on a tread below, I have no artistic talent, when I started pencil drawings were stick people and they still are. So that make me a hunter that carves in the traditional sense, what I carve is made to hunt, simple, sturdy and the essence of duck on water. If someone finds it artistic, ok, but I value the old time carvers that made decoys for functional purposes, that we now look at with an artistic eye.

a turn of the century Jim Holly canvasback in front.

View attachment 3decoys.jpg
 
Nice sunrise, Bill..Hard to beat God when it comes to them!
M.F.A-abstract painter turned upland hunter, turned waterfowler, turned decoy maker/waterfowler--Decoys are a lot more fun, still the solitary process, but you can take visitors to your exhibits home to dinner. hehehehhhe
Thumbs up for utilitarian hunting tools!!
 
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I started carving in order to over come post season depression. After our long season I just couldn't let down. Read an article about an older hunter who used his own carved blocks so thought I'd give it a try. Almost 20 years later I'm still at it, though not as serious as years ago. So in that sense, I'd say a hunter turned carver. Have done textured shelf sitters and decorative slicks, but now focus on good functional gunners.
Have always had a hard time with sketching patterns, postures etc, though the other night I pulled out the pad and pencil and got a couple of ideas worked out.

Maybe a couple of African ambers can loosen up the tightly wired synapsis enough to get some good flow to lines on paper.
 
I am an artist turned carver, and hunter. Some early memories of mine are of painting ducks out of the bird books when I was maybe 8 or 9, possibly earlier. I started hunting when I was 11 and by that time was beginning to carve with my dad. He used to take classes with Bll Veasy back in the early 80's. I still do some flat work, but its few and far between at this point. Here are a couple of my paintings:

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Canada Goose. Oil on Linen.

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Oil on panel

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Acrylic on panel
 
John
I have had my joke and now I will be truthfull with you, before I started waterfowling I had no artistic ability, I came into water fowling in my late 20,s
and I asked a friend who was coming over to the states on vacation to bring me back a sleeping mallard, when he got back he gave me a load of BS and said he could,nt get one and I said to him never mind I will make my own, I got Anthony hillmans and H V shrouds book on pattens and went from there.
I tend to be a guy that carves more from the eye rather than putting it on paper these days.
take care and God Bless
Eddie.
Its all about Building that Bond.
 

I've always been an artist. I was given a set of water colors when I was thirteen. the first thing I painted, Green wing teal. I have a BFA in Illustration and a K-12 art teaching degree. IMHO every one who builds a boat, carves a decoy or camos a blind is an artist or has the ability to be creative.
B
 
John,


Always felt that people who do something with distinction can be classified as "artists."

However, when I saw your heading, I did think of artists who did wildlife art and who have been flatwork artists as well as carver/sculptors. Bill Koelpin was the first who came to mind. Larry Hayden was another.

I think if I had any advantage that helped in pushing me toward doing "art," it was that I grew up with a mom who was a fine portrait artist. She never pushed any of us toward paimting, etc; but the big deal was that I was never in awe of the creative process and considered it within the abilities of anyone. Art was something paople did. (...after all, that was just my mom doing those paintings).

Better question is where does it come from and can it really be "taught"?
 
John,


Always felt that people who do something with distinction can be classified as "artists."

However, when I saw your heading, I did think of artists who did wildlife art and who have been flatwork artists as well as carver/sculptors. Bill Koelpin was the first who came to mind. Larry Hayden was another.

I think if I had any advantage that helped in pushing me toward doing "art," it was that I grew up with a mom who was a fine portrait artist. She never pushed any of us toward paimting, etc; but the big deal was that I was never in awe of the creative process and considered it within the abilities of anyone. Art was something paople did. (...after all, that was just my mom doing those paintings).

Better question is where does it come from and can it really be "taught"?
Click to expand...


Bob/All,

Did you do any artistic endeavors prior to carving ?

Can artistic ability be learned or is it innate ?
 
John - Good post and good questions... My responses are below...

Do you consider yourself an artist ? Although I am trained in art, when it comes to decoys, I don't consider myself an artist. An artist means you make art and I don't consider my decoys art.

How many decoy carvers do other types of art such as canvas paintings or pencil sketches or watercolors ? I do some flat art from time to time. Have mostly been doing drawings of carvers and their decoys...

Are you an artist that carves and hunts or a hunter that carves ? A hunter that carves. I did artwork way before I ever carved a decoy.

As I look at all of the great carvers that we have at duckboats.net I always ask myself these questions.

Maybe the question is “Did you express artistic ability prior to carving? John - I believe this is common. My criteria for gunning decoys is more the intent of the decoy. Is the decoy carved for use and to gun over or, is it carved to sit on a shelf? While many of us do both, the true decoy makers of the past made rigs. In my history, I think of carvers like my great grandpa and Virgil Lashbrook. They were not artists. They made functional decoys made to hunt with. Although they wrestled with the same things contemporary carvers wrestle with, design, form etc., their primary purpose of carving was to carve decoys that could lure waterfowl within gunshot. I believe true decoymakers carve in multiples of dozens and half dozens. I find very few contemporary carvers who carve with these same requirements. Many get close. Some are closer than others. But, things like competition and sales draw us more toward art than true decoys. I applaud those true decoy makers who make decoys to gun over. They may not be pretty, they may not be art, but they can lure ducks within gunshot. That is the only requirement a duck has... Anything beyond this is for man...

Lastly, keep in mind, if a decoy carver had to be trained in art, we'd have far fewer decoy carvers...
 
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I think anyone who carves does it for more than just functional reasons anymore. There is something about making your own decoys that goes beyond the simple utility of it. To me if it was just about making something yourself that worked, most decoys would look very squarish and perhaps just bottom boards with silhouettes. Maybe it's just because I've always had a little interest in art, but I think once you start carving and painting your own decoys it becomes at least a little about art.

That being said, when I become overcritical of my work(and just starting there is plenty to criticize) I have to remember what Pat said at The Rutgers Institute last summer, "I make decoys, not ducks."
 


Bob/All,

Did you do any artistic endeavors prior to carving ?

Can artistic ability be learned or is it innate ?
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I'd say just a normal level of interest. Drawing & sketching as a kid. Nothing formal, but always had an interest. Nothing in the realm of woodcarving. Grandfather was a carpenter ... probably attracted more to woodworking than art.
Guess I would go with it as an innate ability that can be developed. That being said, there would probably be limits to each individuals capacity to achieve an equal level of development. Just like you could really devote yourself to trap or skeet and get pretty good, but you may not make the Olympic team or win the Grand.

I'd imagine there would be different levels of ability based on manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, the ability to look and really observe form & subtle differences, and so forth. Then you factor in the environmental stuff - What have you been exposed to? how much time do you have to devote? Are you motivated by factors that endure for the long haul? Just how stubborn you are, etc.....

How 'bout this:
"Art and works of art do not make an artist; sense and enthusiasm and instinct do. "(Friedrich Von Schlegel)

????
 
I have been a hunter since I could beg my father to accompany him to whatever he was hunting. Not one day was wasted waiting to take my hunter safety exam and buying my first license. I hunted or fished almost daily from junior high until I joined the Navy,. This has nothing to do with my being artistic or not. It has everything to do with drive and passion for sport.

I started by thinking I was a craftsman and not much of an artist. I have been woodworking since I could sneak into my dads shop and play with the tools. Because of that upbringing, I lugged tools around with me from one duty station to another; building furniture, decks, cabinets, etc. I don't necessarily scrimp on tools and thanks to my dad's strong sense of craftsmanship, I don't like to do things half a$$ed. When I asked for carving tools for Christmas one year, I soon learned I was not going to be happy just making blocks.

As I started looking around the decoy world, I realized I wanted to make decoys that reflected a little more respect for the intellect of the prey as well as a chance to express some finer craftsmanship. I read the Ernie Connett Book (written in the 1930's) very early in my carving endeavor ($.25 at library sale). He went to great lengths talking about decoy construction, paint, form and attitude. It was clear to him then, along with the experiments he conducted with ducks, that these things mattered and given the time he wrote that book, it seemed to matter to other carvers as well. (I still laugh thinking he was publicly ribbing Shang Wheeler for his rounded chine and flimsy bill). Needless to say, I never had a single art class past finger painting and I was frustrated.

To tell you the truth, If I couldn't improve, I knew I would give it up. I was not going to hunt over poorly painted blobs. My success then and today was taking a class with Keith Mueller. My Avatar is only my 3rd decoy ever and Keith did not touch the bird once. He offered the first few days, but was nice enough to realize I was going to pass or fail on my own. What I can say is he simply was able to talk, demonstrate and instruct in a manner that I understood. He also instilled a passion for the Art in making decoys. Imagine that: Its not just a book title! Spend some time with him and you see how he lives his words. From that beginning, I now own so many art books, painting books, decoy books and back orders of Wildfowl Carving Magazine you'd think I was doing it for 30 years. I have since sought out the help of artists who happen to be relatives and even took a canvas based art class last summer. What I am the most happy with is my drawing. Keith suggested I get a sketchpad and just start drawing, even if I copied other sketches. I have now filled two and have been working on it more and more. Of course an art student does that in two weeks, but ventures into my right brain are not easy trips. However, this has allow me to start making my own patterns and draft ideas. I have a very long way to go, but any kind of right brain activity seems to support other right brained activity.

I am a hunter and I am an artist. I am much better at the first. I would like to be much better at the second.
 
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