12-27

Well... been doing a little hunting..

Here a photo of my nephew Ben with his first goose...

called a pair into the decoys yesterday and we flushed them and he made a great shot..

This bird was a biggin" 13-14 pounds...

12-19

Well.. Here are a couple of Goldfinch decoys that I made for a customer...

Made to look a little weathered like they been sitting out and attraching birds to your place..kinda like the Puffin decoys of Egg island in Maine...

These little birds are fun projects... just needed to figure out how much wood to remove...

now, they are done.. onto the next project, a new driveway marker...

12-12

Well.. here is my latest... a Green Woodpecker...carved from white pine and mounted on a cedar log,

fun project.. just hard to get reference when the bird is from over seas...

working on some other little birds...

12-4

Well.. here is what I have been up to... my brother said that I should update my blog..

so this is it... been working and doing a little hunting...hunting good, getting not so...

duck season is piss-poor...

doing a little carving...

11-4

Well.. Finally done with the big order... shipped them out today... painted six birds (4 shovler drakes and 2 scaupdrakes)this weekend ..

Also finished a Eider and Oldsquaw last night..

Burning the candle at both ends for awhile..

Painting all weekend.. glad for the bagin movie bin at the local store.. watched or listen to alot of bad movies while doing these...

looking foreward to making some other birds...

Working on some orniments for the local art store...

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10-26

Well.. been working on some more gunners... here are some photos of a hen Scaup and a hen Shovler..

Took what I learned from the Mallards and came up with this hen Shovler paint scheme ...tried to think how to make the bird look good at yardage and also in hand...

Don't mean to toot my own whistle, but, the hen Scaup is one of the best gunner paint jobs that I have done so far...

I'm thinking about making a few Scaup for competition next year...

well back to the paint room to get drake Scaup complete...

10-11

Well.. here are some Mallard hens that I finished .... they go along with the Mallard drakes...

Tried some new painting techniques on these birds...

did some real looking at my mounts and research material... came up with what I call a real simple hen ..

Onto the Shoveler hen next.. while I have the hen puddle duck theme in my head...

10-5

Well.. here is a project that I finished the other night at 1:30am... wanted to have a Woodpecker for an upcoming competition...

Flying Pileated that I created from a photo that I found on the net...

Fun project...going to some adjustments for the next..

9-28

Well... surprize... surprize.. it is raining here again... so I'm in the paint room...

here are some photos of Gadwall drakes.. one is preening and the other is swimming...

These birds were fun to paintwith all the different shades...

now onto the next....

9-25

Well.. back from Canada.. the four of us caught over 500 fish for the week... bass and pike...

ate slept and fished... good week...

here is a Eider project that I was carving ...

now I have to seal it and float it..

Also painting Gadwalls.. photos to follow..

9-14

Well.. it has been awhile since I posted.. I have been working in the shop..I got all the decoys for the big order carved and sealed and floated and textured... now onto paint...

I started with the drake Mallards... here are some photos of the birds painted...

After painting I will seal the birds with a flat varnish... just to save the paint some ...

working on the Gadwalls now...

also going to Canada for our yearly fishing trip... a week of eat. sleep, fish... and a little carving on the porch of the cabin...

8-6

Well... it has been a month since I posted last... here are some photos of what I have been up to...

I have put some time in and carved15 gunning decoys... it took most of the spring and summer, but..

boy does that look impressive all together...

now I'm going to use my automotive spray gun to seal all these bird..the paint will get in all the nooks with the spray gun... and I don't have to brush them all... wish me luck painting all these..

7/8

Well... here is the scoop.. just got back from a motorcycling vacation... went to Del.. then took the ferry to NJ.. then home from there... it was a good trip... only really good lost once, and ended up in central city Philly... then we ennded up on some really heavy traveled roads...
Got rained on every day...
Have not been carving much.. between are little trip and working some overtime for the cause before that...
Now it is time to buckel down and get some carving done... got several to paint and I'm working on some shovlers gunners...

6/17

Well.. been hot around here and the summer is progressing along.. the weeks are starting to run together like most summers do...
seems like you start the week and there is so much to do that the weekend is here and you got nothing done...
been carving Gadwalls this week.. almost done.. final sanding of the bodies , glue on the heads, final sand and ready for sealing... then onto Shovlers, that are cut out already...
been motorcycling on the weekends, so not much getting done there....
going to try and get some painting done....we'll keep you posted...

6/3

Well... summer is here... been carving gunners and trying to get a much done as possible ...

here are some photos of some Mallards... these have been glued, screwed, and putty applied to the neck joints... they are ready for final sanding... make some keels.. then onto paint..

there is were the problem is... my motovation to paint is lacking...

one of these days I'll sit down and just start... but for now I'll keep carving...

5/15

Well... been busy with carving some gunners.. here are some photos on how that process is going...

Here is a shot of the two Mallard hens that I'm finishing carving.. snuggler and a swimmer

Also a photo of three Scaup.. two drake and one hen.. the Scaup I'm going to seal this week and get them floated and the Mallards I have to sand the bodies, then glue the heads on put the screw into the head, putty the neck area and a final sanding... they should be ready for sealing by the weekend.. then onto the Mallard drakes...

5/8

Well.. the dust has settled on Worlds.. what a week of carving, looking at carvings, talking about carvings, touching carvings, judging carvings, entering carvings... you get the picture...

Rich and I had great students and Rich showed them many new techniques...

Here are some photos of a Common Merganser of mine and a pair of gunning Loons...

Now we are back to the grind of trying to get birds done and look foreward to next years Worlds...

I think I'm going to do another World Rig... that should be fun...

4/20

Well.. just been working... started making these three Scaup... now the heads are carved and getting ready to do the bodies...

All my birds for worlds are painted and antiqued..only a little dirting in key area and some work on the patina...

Just got to pack my carving stuff, because I'm helping Rich with his seminar at Worlds.. we are making a knothead Canvasback...

then I got pack all the other item that I will need for a week away...

4-11

Well... been working on lots of carvings.. I'm painting the rest of my worlds birds and I started carving and cutting out birds for my order...

Here are some photos on how carving start... first is a trio of Scaup heads, all cut out and ready for the knife... second is a shot of some Mallards that I will get on right after the Scaup...

I got Scaup, Mallards, Shovlers, and Gadwall to make.. don't ask why I started with the Scaup...

If everything goes well I'm hoping to be finished with my Worlds stuff with a few days to spare...

Boy, if you did not have to work... I think I could get a few more birds done..

4/4

Well.. starting to really buckle down and get these birds done for Worlds... As you can see here are two birds that are on there way to being complete...

First is a high head Canvasback that is in some needed of antiquing... painted with oils and carved from basswood...the other photo is a Merganser ready for the paint to be applied... that bird is carved from pine... I have a few others that need some work...

4/3

Well.. April is here and that means Worlds is just around the corner... so the shop is busy, but there is a different intensity than for DU... not everyone will enter or attend Worlds... So I just have to finish carving one more item than I'm into painting 4 projects and antiquing some of these... I'm glad that my Worlds stuff is this far along... looking foreward to the next challenge.. and that is carving many gunners from patterns that I drew... should be fun but also a lot of work...

3/20

Well.. What a busy weekend .. spent the weekend teaching a seminar..

I had 14 people making a Old squaw Drake... we did the whole project with hand tools...

Started on Saturday and finished on Sunday around 3:30pm...

This is a pretty intense way to make a bird.. but if you want to have a finished bird, you have to put the time into it..

I try and make the weekend fun but the main goal is to complete the bird...

Here are some photos of the weekend... some students painting..my work station... we like to call that carving central..

last photo is Lynn cheating with a paint pen.. she was trying to get out of using here paint brush...

now we get to get ready to paint our little project of a mini Tern for carving club tomorrow night..

3/20

3/14

Well.. Starting to get nicer weather around here... after that last snow, we could use a little melting... I know it does not compare to Maine..

Here are some shot of some minis that we had in the DU banquet... My brother's mini Golden Plover and my mini flying Canvasback... Minis are fun projects and a great way to use up the scrap pieces of wood, that all carvers generate...

The only problem is that everything that is in a full size bird is in a mini....

3/9

Well.. we had the Ducks Unlimited Banquet over the last weekend.. real good night.. we had 81 pieces in the contest... it was an exciting night with all the birds that people made.. carvers seem to do a little extra for the banquet...

Here are some shots from the banquet.. first is the Maryland boys.. my brother and Harry..

next is an antiqueEgret that I made.. next is a gunning Redhead hen.. the Redhead hen got 2nd in show for the gunners...

Got to see a lot of folks that I onlt get to see once a year... made some money for the ducks.. the only thing that if DU would use some of the money generated around this area... that way the folks that attend the banquet could see what some of their money goes to...

Already working on ideas for next year..

2/21

Well, it is presidents day here in the big city... just love federal holidays...

Finished the hen Wigeon last night.. here are some shots of the pair... before they leave...

Now to snow removal... thought spring was here...

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2/15

Well, thing are melting here.. we are getting temps above the frozen mark... so carving season is in full swing.. shop nights are full and people are working on a multitude of items... had a couple of folks over to paint along... or just to get some pointers...

Are DU banquet is fast approaching (March 5)... the excitment is in the air..

Here is a photo of a drake Wigeon, that I did for a customer... he is planning to gun over this bird.. I painting the hen.. so he is going to have a nice pair... I think everyone should have a nice pair...

2/6

Well, it is superbowl sunday.. here how the day well go... paint decoys in morning then go for a run with the running club... then watch the game...

But first painting decoys.. here are some photos of a Blue-winged Teal that I just finished...

Everyone think it is a small bird it won't be that bad to paint... there is alot going on with this Teal...

This particular bird was made for a trade with a friend on mine...

Now back to it...

1/31

Well, it is the last day of the month.. did something kooky this weekend.. I cleaned my paint room and closet..

Good news is that you can move around in there again... other news is that I found stuff I did not know I even had...

Now, I also drew decoy patterns last week to get ready for an upcoming big project...

So carving for the show season has started and there is starting to be a buzz around here with the carvers,,, what is everyone making for our local DU contest...

The DU contest is a one night event and we have Gunners, Shorebirds, Minis and Antiques...

So, something for everyone... we will get close to 100 carvings for the night... and they will all be sold that night... what a great night if you like to look and buy handmade carving projects...

Here is a photo of some of my old patterns that I started with to create new ones..

Other photo is a Winter Loon that I finished.. always wanted to make a Loon in winter colors...