Give a Gift
Ah, summer… carefree days of sun and fun! Days free to try a new hobby, maybe?
I have led several carving classes geared toward beginners, as we all want this art form to contin-ue. Some of the most rewarding ones were these “bird in a day” classes, in which we carved, sanded, installed eyes and feet, and painted—all within a day!
I held these classes at The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Crisfield Heritage Foundation, and offices of Maryland Public Television. Most of the attendees had never held a carving knife before. I knew the inherent problems on the road to success, so I recruited help in the form of my brother, Ross Smoker, and my good friend Captain Russell Fish. We tag-teamed the teaching to bring the projects to fruition. I used good-quality basswood for the cutouts and knives to do the work.
A word about the feet: I am always researching birds and decoys. I was revisiting my studies of coastal Maine and came across Augustus “Gus” Wilson (1864-1950) of South Portland. He produced many hunting decoys while he was a lighthouse keeper. He also carved many songbirds and used wire for their legs and feet! A spark was ignited as I wanted to try this idea myself. This led to the beginner’s classes. The old adage rings true, “You can’t have the new without the old.”
Let’s give this a try—I used the warbler pattern for many different species of beautiful summer songbirds.