Jim Mitchell

A Carver’s Story

Jim started carving in 1977. His father had a wood working shop and he grew up working with wood. Jim’s first job was a Draftsman, so creating patterns came easily.

He carves birds of all types and likes ducks the best. He has carved other animals, including a Killer Whale and an Otter.

Jim lost count of how many carvings he’d completed somewhere between 80 or 90 carvings. He’s  also made several dozen hunting decoys out of cork.

The carving Jim is most proud of is a Canada Goose carved in 1979; it was his second carving.

A fellow carving friend visited the Museum years ago and mentioned that Jim should go sometime. The Museum is lucky he did! (And that we have had some long winters.)

In 2015, Jim emailed that he was painting a Barn Owl that he’d carved the previous year. He added, “Just finished a Nuthatch. Then back to carving a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, your Horned Grebe, a White-Tailed Tropic Bird… and I still need to paint a pair of Canvasbacks hunting decoys. In the planning process of a several blue birds as gifts, yes I will keep one for my self. Hope we have a long winter….”

Contributed Carvings

So far, Jim has contributed several carvings to the Museum: the Northern Pintail, the Ring-necked Duck, the Horned Grebe, the Black Duck, the Long-tailed Duck, the Snow Goose, and the Mandarin Duck. They can be found in the spring and fall wetland dioramas, except for the Mandarin Duck, which is displayed int he workshop.

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