More decoys

speechless.

Keith, seen Kerry S lately? My ex brother inlaw used to live next door to him. I have a lot of his dad's old pattern and a few head rough outs. Still have the gianormous eider dekes he used to tell me about?
 
Keith,

Amazing work. Rather than repeat all the above comments, just let me say,,,,,,

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If you ever run out of decoy bags, I have a couple you are welcome to fill.
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Thank You Bob and Dave. The concept was easy, just the planning presented a few challenges. But once I started carving it, it fell into place.
 
THank you John. I see that scenario so often with many species of waterfowl, sea birds, shorebirds etc.....it was just a natural progression with the eider and scoter.
 
Steve, that is what the collector thought when I first told him how I wanted to portray the two birds!!

Thank you for the compliment.
 
Thank you Gary, Bill and Pete, I am glad you enjoyed them. That is the beauty of using floating sculpture for decoys, its like sitting in an art musuem taking it all in, except we would be sitting out in the cold!!

Thank you everyone.

Keith
 
Thank you John, I look forward to meeting you as well. Well, mother nature is a very good mentor to work with.....she has the upper hand on all of us.

Thank you again, I am happy you enjoyed them!

Keith
 
Thanks Capt. Brian and Steve, I agree with you....PETA was upset with my use of defensless cucumbers and stars! I appreciate your comments, its nice to know that less than popular waterfowl species such as scoters and spectacled eiders can be appreciated.......especially through art.
 
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Thank you NIck and Paul. "Aspiration" follows "inspiration", I hope these birds "inspire" you to reach for that extra creativity. Good luck!!

Keith
 
Thank you Jim, I heard from Kerry a few months back. I miss Paul Sr., I had wonderful memories with Paul, he was a good friend. Sorry all of those big eiders less one are all gone.

Thank you HuntinDave, I appreciate your generous offer, I will think about it. Thanks again.

Keith
 
Thank you Bill, those are great questions. I will be glad to and I want to answer them all.....in the morning. I hope you don't mind, but I have been painting all day and my brain is fried. I will better be able to answer your great questions after a few hours of sleep. Check back tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Keith
 
Hi Bill, There are many ways to look at decoys. If you are a hunter, than decoys to you may be just a tool of the hunt. All a decoy needs to do is lure the birds into range to be harvested. And originally that was the main reason for carving decoys. In time the lure of decoys evolved into more than just a hunting tool, but into art; something to lure the eye. Part of being an artist is to be inspired into creativity, and with me like many other decoy artists I know, when I see a bird, my creative switch gets turned on, and I start to envision that bird as a carved sculpture. The finished decoy will still hold the legacy of a 'fowlers tool, but it has morophed into a new form; floating art and sculpture. There are many reasons to be inspired in making a specific decoy; maybe the duck you are looking at reminds you of a "classic" design from a famous maker, maybe the sun illuminated the plumage and that caused you to really notice the look of the bird, maybe it was a posture the bird assumed that you want to re-create, maybe it was the color of its speculum, etc. It could be any reason that would cause me to carve that bird, it just depends on my initial reaction when I saw the bird.

The time it takes to make decoys for me depends on the type or style of decoy, the amount of carving included, and of course the paint. Some decoys are completed in a day or two, and my premium grades often take weeks as in the image....(this pair of premium grade old squaw and drake harlequin I am currently working on). It is difficult to answer about the stopping point of the carving and painting amount of work that will go into a decoy. Again it depends on the style that requires so much work, or as in the case of these three decoys, I usually have an idea how far to go with the carving because I always design my decoys around the paint. I want to make sure there is enough carved detail to enhance the painting. I essentially carve the decoy to give the full impact for the paint. When I am carving, I will instinctively know when I have carved enough. As far as starting do I start and finish; sometimes. I have many project going at the same time, and I just about always work on many at the same time, and stop on some, and continue on others. I am sorry for this shameless plug........but in my book, I talk more about the inspiration behind each decoy than the actual techniques on how to do it. You might find it interesting from that aspect. Maybe someone who has it would like to comment about that.

I hope I answered some of your questions for you. I really appreciate your asking me.

Thak you agian,

Keith

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