| |
 |
The
following article is a re-print from the News Times of Greater
Danbury, Ct. - February 17, 2005 |
Art,
on the wing
Wild
birds come to life in Warren artist's studio
By
Brenda Marks
WARREN
– Bill Rice swings open the door of an upright freezer that stands
between his basement studio and his workshop. He reaches one hand in,
plucking a frozen grouse off a shelf.
Rice lifts up
the game bird, pointing out the softness of its brownish feathers and
talking detail, smoothness, texture. He gingerly holds the carcass,
caressing its feathers. Then Rice places the ruffed grouse back on the
shelf near a dead crow and closes the freezer's white door with a
thud.
He strides back
to his studio that overlooks thick woods and a snow-covered bog at the
end of a dirt driveway.
| Rice,
52, is a woodcarver. The frozen delicacies are his models.
People
tend to give him dead game birds, knowing he can put them to
good use. For other models, he borrows "skins" from
museums so his sculptures turn out precise.
"Best
way to get the color right is to (see something real) because
photographs can be deceiving," said Rice, explaining his
craft with the patience of a thoughtful professor. "Burning
bass wood with a detailer is what gives the bird's feathers its
texture and softness." |
 |
Rice does what
few do these days: earns his living as a woodcarver and painter, lives
in a house he built himself, spends days outdoors observing wildlife
to hone his artist's eye.
Rice sculpts
life-sized birds from single blocks of bass wood – vibrant
cardinals, long-billed American woodcocks, flighty Carolina wrens. He
places them on branches made of copper topped off with epoxy-resin
berries.
He also creates
wooden bird feathers that look real until they are touched.
Rice brings his
creations to life with coats of oil paint that he applies with a
meticulous hand using sable-bristled brushes.
 |
His
pieces command top dollar. Most work is speculative. He sells
the wooden birds and feathers, as well as paintings, through a
network of six galleries scattered throughout the United States.
He also sells commissioned pieces.
A
ruby-throated hummingbird can fetch $2,300. At the Gregory James
Gallery in New Milford, a snipe flying over marsh grass sold for
$7,500, according to owner Greg Mullen.
In all,
Rice estimates that he sold about 20 feather sculptures and 15
birds last year. His oil landscape paintings make up about a
third of his work. |
Rice started
carving when he was in his late teens, following in his father's
footsteps. His father mostly carved decoys.
"He did his
thing. I did mine," Rice said. "His take on it was that when
you figure out the problems, you learn where you are going with it and
how to put the puzzle together."
| Rice's
first piece, a chickadee, was crude compared to the work he does
now, he said with a shy smile.
"At
the time, I thought it was great," Rice said. "I
recognize it for what it (was). Now, carving is second
nature."
Rice
didn't step straight from high school into the life of a
self-taught artist. After graduation, he took a slight detour.
First, he
worked as a lineman for the power company. He stuck with that
for six years. Then he started working as a carpenter for his
dad, building houses while carving on the side. He sold his
carvings at art shows and entered contests, traipsing around the
country. |
 |
Next
Page
|
|
