I was born in Hickory, NC, in 1947, have lived in area all my
life, and attended Fred T.
Foard High School.

     After Graduation from High School I enlisted in the Marine Corps,
where I served for 2
years with a 13 month tour of duty in Vietnam. I'm married to a
wonderful woman and have 3
beautiful daughters, all grown.



    I've been interested in wood working from childhood, but didn't
start carving seriously till
1999 when a friend asked me to go to a carving class with him at a
local community college. I
went to the class and have been carving ever since. I had done scroll
saw and router work before,
and have taken numerous carving and painting classes and seminars
since. I got interested in
carving birds in 2000 and pretty  much carve them exclusively now. 

     I've had a lot of help from friends along the way, with Tony Bua
of Vilas, NC, as the most
influential. We've spent many hours in his shop and I've learned a lot
from him

     Since 1999, I have entered a number of shows and sales, and have
had pieces on display at
the Hickory Art Museum. I currently have several pieces at the Twisted
Tree Gallery in Hickory.

     I attended the Ward World Wildlife Carving Competition in Ocean
City, MD, and have
won awards from local to national level. In 2003 I won 1st and 2nd Best
of Novice at East
Carolina Wildfowl Arts Festival in Washington NC. That same year I won
Best of Amateur at the
West Lake, Ohio, show and Best of Novice at the Core Sound show at
Harker's Island, NC. Also
in 2003, I won the International Wildfowl Carving Association  (IWCA)
Novice Carver of the
Year award.

     My membership in clubs and guilds includes:

Ducks Unlimited
East Carolina Wildfowl Carvers Guild
National Wood Carvers Association.
Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art
International Wildfowl Carvers Association
Charlotte Wood Carvers
Catawba Valley Wood Carvers
Piedmont Wood Carvers of NC,  where I served as treasurer for 3 years.

It was carved from basswood and  painted with acrylics. It is -1/2- size. The buoy is pine. The base is hardwood painted flat black