Decoy carver Bill Collins holds a mallard hen, right, and an American Wigeon. (Photo by Kathi Ferguson)
Capt. Bill Collins was in the process of painting the feathers on a Mallard Drake decoy as he shared highlights of his journey to becoming one of the most sought-after decoy carvers and painters in the state of Maryland.
“There are two different elements of this art,” he said. “Carving and painting. Fortunately, I have become proficient at both.”
In the early days, carvings were created as “working” decoys, used by hunters to attract ducks, geese, and other waterfowl into shooting range. This is where Collins started — making decoys as a tool.
“Carving has developed into more of an art form and is much more detailed,” Collins said. “In today’s world, decoys are less of a necessity and more of a luxury. Collectors often focus on a particular style of decoy, paint style, or maker, and have become more discriminating in what they purchase.”
Born and raised in Perryville, Md., like most carvers, Bill always loved the outdoors and began hunting and fishing at an early age.
“I was ten or twelve years old when my dad took me and my brother, James, squirrel hunting,” he said. “My first experience in making decoys came when I was in high school. James also taught me about waterfowl hunting, and we worked repairing and painting our own decoys.”
Collins’ pathway to becoming a full-time decoy carver was much less conventional, however. After graduating high school in 1967, Bill spent a year studying computer programming in Baltimore, but soon realized it was not for him.
The loss of Bill’s grandparents came not long after he entered college in 1968. During the course of attending their funeral services, the thought of becoming a funeral director struck a nerve.
“I remember thinking, this might be a good profession because you are helping people when they can’t help themselves,” Collins said. As luck would have it, Collins landed an apprenticeship at a funeral home in Havre de Grace, Md., with a gentleman by the name of R. Madison Mitchell. Mitchell promptly informed Bill that part of his job when not working on a funeral would be making duck decoys. It was a match made in heaven.
Mitchell had a small shop behind the funeral home where he worked on his carvings when business was slow. Since taking up the craft in 1924, Mitchell carved tens of thousands of decoys throughout his 60-year career, helping teach and mentor carvers of future generations along the way. Mitchell’s style became characterized by carefully detailed feather painting, executed with world class precision.
His first day on the job, Bill said he was shown how to turn miniature bodies on the lathe. Step by step, procedure by procedure, Mitchell continued to guide and instruct young Collins on all of the initial stages of making decoys, soon granting him free reign to experiment on his own. Learning to carve the head was next — a step at which Mitchell’s “blessing” was required before Collins could move forward toward completion.
After finishing his apprenticeship with Mitchell, Collins decided to “make it official” and attended the College of Mortuary Science in New York City in 1970, successfully completing the one-year course required to become a licensed funeral director.
While serving in the Maryland Army National Guard for the next six years, Collins worked for Mitchell as a funeral director, simultaneously honing his skills in the art of crafting decoys.
In 1981, Mitchell sold his decoy business to Collins, including the shop, which Bill reopened as Upper Chesapeake Bay Decoys. In 1987 he sold Mitchell’s lathe, machine tools and fixtures to the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, and Mitchell’s shop was reconstructed on the Museum grounds.
An opportunity to move to Centreville, where he still calls home, presented itself to Collins in 1984. Plans would soon begin for the construction of not only a new home for Collins, but a new shop. Freed up from the rigors of his previous career, Collin’s filled his time carrying hunting parties and working as a charter boat captain out of Tilghman Island while continuing to make decoys.
Collins does all of his carving in a part of the shop separate from where the paint and finishing touches are applied. He starts with the head since it takes the most amount of time and requires a lot of attention. After laying out his pattern, Collins looks to the bandsaw for cutting out the body before shaping the piece with a drum sander, draw knife, spoke shave and carving knives.
“I mainly work with American Linden, also known as basswood, and white pine,” Collins said. “Occasionally, I’ll use cedar for some of my pieces.”
Once satisfied with the carved and sanded piece, oil paint is intricately applied, resulting in a masterfully crafted work of art.
Much goes into this craft besides skill and love of nature. Collins does a good deal of research on a bird before selecting a pattern that will best represent it. Considering himself a traditionalist, Collins said his preferred style is the flat bottom decoy (versus round bottom).
Collins also sketches the bird in various poses, putting his own spin on what he feels it should look like. This, he said, differentiates the decoy makers.
“If you hold a duck in your hand, some people see only colors,” he said with a smile. “But I see the feather pattern, look at the head and bill, and study the anatomy of the bird.”
With each carving, Collins blends his inherent knowledge and personal connection to his craft, while continuing to maintain the century-old skills that have been passed down from master to apprentice for generations.
Some of the carvers he admires are legends like Charlie Joiner (1921-2015), the Ward Brothers Stephen Ward (1895-1976) and Lemuel T. Ward, Jr. (1896-1984), and of course, his mentor, Mitchell (1901-93).
“Each of these folks has influenced my work in some way,” Collins said. “And with each project, I try to improve on the one before it.”
