Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 - (Page 45)

Through the years carvers have made imaginative use of the resources at hand. Although carving methods, tools, and materials have changed, ingenuity has remained a constant. The question of decoy eyes has prompted particularly creative responses. While Laurent Verdin, Sr., fashioned eyes out of bits of brown glass taken from New Orleans-brewed Jax beer bottles, other carvers requisitioned everyday CARVER INGENUITY household objects such as hatpins and tacks — or chose to carve the eyes rather than use supplementary materials. A handful of early carvers, including Nicole Vidacovich, used high-quality (and high-priced) taxidermy eyes, a practice now commonplace in contemporary carving circles. Over the years, the decoy’s painted finish has evolved both physically and philosophically. The paint on early working birds was meant to be convincing — but not, necessarily, ornithologically precise. Today’s decorative carver adheres to exacting standards of feather count and shape and attempts to match the hue and iridescence of a species’ plumage, using application tools that range from red-sable paintbrushes to airbrushes. If painting techniques have grown increasingly sophisticated, so too have carving methods. Where once a hatchet or broadaxe was used to hew a carving block to shape, a modern carver would be more likely to employ an electric bandsaw. Knives, a perennial staple of the carver’s kit, have evolved as well — from the pocket knife or drawknife of earlier days to highly specialized tools made specifically for carving. Nontraditional tools and innovative techniques permit decorative carvers to achieve the exceptional level of detail demanded by competitions like the annual Ward World Championship. From red-hot ice picks used as makeshift branding irons, to cosmetic bronzing powders that lend feathers their sheen, contemporary carvers employ a battery of tools — both homemade and high-tech — in their efforts to make their art as lifelike as possible. Jimmie Vizier, a decorative carver whose father, uncle, and grandfather achieved renown as makers of working decoys, resides in Galliano. (Photo from the collection of Brian Cheramie and David Hall) AMERICAN BLACK DUCK HEN AND DRAKE (black mallard) by Jimmie Vizier courtesy of an anonymous lender Winter 2008-09/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 45

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008 Contents Friends Editor's Column Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Prospect.1 New Orleans The Historic New Orleans Collection The Enduring Performance of Michael P. Smith Jazz Notes Louisiana Foodways Birds of a Feather: Windfowl Carvings in Southeast Louisiana Louisiana Association of Museums Louisiana Architecture O. Winston Link in Louisiana The Ogden Museum of Southern Art The Colfax Massacre Louisiana State Museum Unlocking the History of Greek Key Architecture Bookstand Sound Advice Forum

Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Winter 2008

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