Borderline WWing-Duck decoy...

[Jerry Olexa]

In an earlier life (quite a few years ago), I shaped and painted this duck decoy. LOML and I were cleaning out the office and she suggested I post it here. Naturally she being SWMBO, here it is. I don't think I have the patience to do these anymore...Sorry, I know its not true WWing but hope its close... Come to think: it was all hand tools if I remember..Thanks

[Barry Beech]

Very :cool:

[Lars Thomas]

I 'wood' call it true woodworking. Decoy carving is a beautiful art. Lars

[Jerry Olexa]

I 'wood' call it true woodworking. Decoy carving is a beautiful art. Lars

Thanks Lars. On that one I did more painting than carving but it was a fun project. Very tedious and time consuming...

[Roy Wall]

Tediuos I do say....and very well done also!!

[Jerry White]

Jerry,

In a earlier life (a long time ago), I was a waterfowl hunter. I'm left with a lot of good memories of those days. Your art brings them back to me anew. Great work and thanks for posting!

Jerry

[William Crooks]

Even though I'm not and never was a hunter, I've always been a nature lover. As such, it always amazes me to see a well made decoy -- theres something about them that you can appreciate, immortalizing the bird in a piece of wood. The attention to the little details, y'know.

I've gotta agree with Lars, I've always thought of woodworking as an art of creativity and passion -- not unlike leatherworking (something I happen to do), regardless of what your making, be it a decoy, a chair, or an instrument, it's the passion that goes into it that makes it a work of art.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

[Jerry Olexa]

Jerry, Bill, Lars and Roy: Thanks for your kind words. That was about 20 yrs ago and it was an enjoyable exercise. I shaped and sanded a lot but the emphasis (and time)was on the painting which required tons of patience. Each feather had to be individually painted. After that project, I visited the shop of a professional artist and decoy carver considering going to the next level. I saw the intricate level of carving he did (every feather was individually shaped and carved)..I truly was seeing works of art. Being realistic and considering the time demands of my then job, I decided to pursue other aspects of WWing. And here we are, hatchet in hand, building furniture. Thanks for looking...

[Lou Morrissette]

Jerry,
I visited a duck decoy museum on the North Carolina coast near Emerald Isle last year and spoke to a guy who was demonstrating decoy carving. I would not hesitate to call him a fine woodworker at the very least. That duck is a fine piece of work IMHO.

Lou