ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610140062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
Wildlife artist David Lawrence straddled his homemade carver's bench and whittled away at a block of wood, fashioning it into a duck's head.
Spread around him were the mostly antique hand woodworking tools of his trade and the unfinished parts of a half-dozen or more decoys.
Behind Lawrence, displayed on shelves and tables, and on the floor in front of him, were several finished, hand-painted decoys, many with blue ribbons hanging around their necks.
The Harkers Island, N.C., carver demonstrated his craft Friday at Grand Interiors as part of a national marketing campaign for Kincaid Furniture Co.'s new line of Ducks Unlimited furniture.
A portion of the proceeds from furniture sales will go to the conservation group, which works to protect, restore and manage wetlands that are home to North American waterfowl.
Several people who carve decoys as a hobby stopped by the store just to see Lawrence.
Reba Smith of Roanoke brought in her husband, Dan, who recently started carving miniature decoys. While he talked to Lawrence, she looked at furniture.
Dan Smith didn't seem to mind. He spent more than an hour watching Lawrence shave blocks of wood with careful, even strokes and answer questions about his art.
Lawrence started carving out of necessity. He grew up on the Outer Banks, and as a boy he hunted ducks with his father and uncles and cousins.
The hunters did not take much care in handling their wooden decoys and often the heads would break off, Lawrence said. At 13, he started making replacement heads.
"What I do is self-taught," said Lawrence, now 48. "I probably should have gotten lessons a lot of years ago."
For Lawrence, the best carvings are those done by hand, the old-fashioned way. He has collected a number of tools from antique stores and has made a few tools himself. He has only one factory-made hand tool and uses power tools only to block out the patterns he starts out with.
Three years ago, Lawrence made his hobby a full-time job. Before that, he was a police officer in Morehead City, N.C., but he prefers carving and painting wildlife scenes to the stress of law enforcement.
"It's [work] when David wants to, instead of when the chief says to," he said.
He paints the decoys and his paintings in a studio at his home. His workshop is in his back yard.
Lawrence spends up to 10 hours painting the more detailed decoys. On one he brought to Roanoke, he had painted each of the duck's feathers.
The simpler decoys can be done in a few hours and bring about $100. For the more time-intensive works, he can get up to $2,000.
While Lawrence has enjoyed considerable commercial success, he still enters decoy contests because he believes the challenge of competition makes him a better carver.
"I just take it as God-given talent," he said. "I try to improve it as I go."
David Lawrence will hold another demonstration today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Grand Piano store at Valley View Mall.
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. David Lawrence explains to Tomby CNBAnderson of Ironto how a duck decoy is made to right itself in the
water if it tipped over. color.