Mini Black Brant

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

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

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

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: