Journal

3rd Best of Division at the 2011 Columbia Flyway show

2011-11-15T20:07:33Z

My mallard won the third best of division for the IWCA working decoy contest at the 2011 Columbia Flyway Show on September 10th, 2011. This is a picture taken during the judging of the "best of puddle ducks" portion of the competition. That pintail in the background is also one of mine. It won a blue ribbon as best in pintails.

Head portraits

2011-10-29T20:51:22Z

Here are some close-up head portraits of the three birds. I love how the oil paint blends when it is wet.

Some decoys in oil paint

2011-10-29T20:21:19Z

I've spent some time this summer practicing with oil paints. Here are a few I completed recently.

Mallard:

Barrow's Goldeneye

Wigeon

Barrow's Goldeneye

2011-04-17T17:38:56Z

Here's a Barrow's goldeneye I finished recently. I haven't done many diver ducks in recent years and I had fun doing this one.

Contemporary Style Mallard Drake

2011-04-01T20:55:16Z

Here's a mallard I carved from tupelo and painted with acrlic paint.

Mini Black Brant

2011-02-26T17:19:12Z

Here's a miniature black brant I carved as a donation for the Washington Brant Foundation. The bird was inspired by a carver named Jim Manning who is prolific making in these cartoony decoys. Years ago I won a hooded merganser Christmas ornament from him which looked similar to this in style but has a red and white winter hat and a loop to hang on the tree. It's packed away right now or I'd take a picture of that as well. Hopefully this makes a few extra bucks for the Brant foundation.

Red Cedar Bird

2011-02-19T17:20:08Z

Here's a mallard I carved from old growth red cedar recently. I've always heard that you need to be extra careful carving red cedar. It seems that many people have a negative reaction to carving it due to the dust. I absolutly loved carving it myself. I made sure I wore my respirator when grinding it but it really carved very nice with both power and hand tools.

This was a piece of test wood for me. I only bought a little bit because I wasn't sure I would like it. Now that I know how it carves, I'm going to load up on it next opportunity I get. I bought from a friend I met in Washinton named Tom Kelly. He runs a lumber shop up in Burlington. The price was pretty amazing as well. I've added his information to the links section of my site if you are interested in getting some yourself.

Drake Mallard

2011-02-06T21:45:57Z

Here's a drake mallard I carved recently. It's made from tan cork and the head is carved from white cedar. I painted it with acrylic paints. I'm especially happy with how the iridescent look of the head came out.

A couple more wigeon

2010-11-06T19:08:43Z

Here are a couple more wigeon that I've been working on. I just finished them up last night. They are both the same low-head pattern that I've done a few of. One of them has simulated raised primary feathers. The other has a smooth back.

Here's the simulated raised primaries bird:

And here is the smooth-back gunner:

Best of Show win at the Oregon Waterfowl Festival

2010-08-27T20:59:02Z

My pintail won best of show in the Novice/Intermediate IWCA Style division at the Oregon Waterfowl Festival

This is the 2nd Best of show win for me this year. If I win one more contest in the intermediate division I'll have to move up to Open competition. I may just just jump into Open anyway.