Good Stuff

Wildfowl carving comes in many different forms, from basic gunning decoys to elaborate decorative birds. Variety, they say, is the spice of life, so bird carving must be a spicy art form indeed.

Take, for example, the birds we feature in this issue. On the one hand, we have Jason Lucio’s beautiful Ross’s goose, which can pass for a real bird. On the other, we have Daniel Montano’s interpretive ruddy duck. No one’s going to mistake it for an actual waterfowl. Put that in the water, and you’re probably not going to attract a lot of ruddies—but you might end up sharing your blind with a bunch of Cubists.

They are two great carvings, and two entirely different approaches. Like I said—variety. Throw in Gerald Painter’s amazing ovenbird sculpture, Ted Smith’s regal gyrfalcon, and Jerry Simchuk’s grouse habitat, and you really get a sense of the carving world’s diversity.

In each issue of Wildfowl Carving, we try to give a bit of something for everyone. As good as we think the magazine is, though, we want to make it even better. If you turn to the very last page of this issue you will find a survey that you can fill out. You can do it the old-fashioned way, by using a pen or pencil and mailing the completed form back to us, or you can go all twenty-first century and fill it out online at www.wildfowlcarving.com/survey. Either way, your answers will help us determine what we need to do to deliver the best possible magazine. We look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Another helpful thing you can do for the magazine is to help get word out about us to all the bird carvers you know. If you’re a teacher, tell your students. If you belong to a carving club, tell your fellow members. As we proudly declare on the cover, we are the only magazine for bird carvers, so our goal is to make sure every single practitioner of this wonderful art form knows about us. Tell the world!

Finally, we have something exciting coming. For years I’ve been talking about making sold-out back issues available as e-editions. We are about to make that happen, starting with the very first issue of Wildfowl Carving and Collecting. Follow us on Facebook or check our website for further details as they develop.

On the cover: Avery Lucio photographed Jason Lucio’s Ross’s goose. Jason is Avery’s father. 

This article is from the Spring 2017 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.