The fledgling carver

RALEIGH -- This time, Jared Ines isn't going to let a little paint get in the way.

The 14-year-old duck carving prodigy from Raleigh will be entering his wooden representation of a common goldeneye in the youth division of the North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships in Washington this weekend.

In December, a lack of detail might have cost Ines first place in a competition in New Orleans.

On Monday afternoon, Ines was one of six boys working at the North Raleigh studio of nationally known carver Vic Kirkman, putting the finishing touches on the wooden bird, carefully adding brush strokes of gray paint to the bird's side for more detail.

Kirkman, a carving instructor, has formed a nonprofit dedicated to passing the art of decoy carving to the next generation, and several of his students, young and old, will enter this weekend's competition, part of the Eastern Carolina Wildfowl Guild's 15th annual Wildlife Arts Festival.

The festival includes an art competition and sale, waterfowl calling competitions, the DockDogs jumping dog competition, retriever demonstrations and more than 150 exhibitors, among other highlights.

"We'll have some of the best carvers in the world here this weekend," said Sandra Gossett, one of the show's organizers.

Kirkman will be a judge at the show, though he won't be judging Ines' duck or the work of any of his students. He has been carving for 20 years and has won numerous contests. His ducks are realistic down to the feathers, which look real enough to be plucked.

It's the type of work Ines aspires to do someday. His piece lacks the feather detail that Kirkman is capable of, but Ines hopes to start attempting that type of work soon.

"He tells me I will," Ines said, unsure of himself. "I believe him."

Kirkman has more than 20 paid adult students, and the proceeds go toward classes and materials for his youth class. He doesn't charge for youth instruction, though he has room for only about a dozen kids every year. A few years ago, Kirkman started Youth Carvers of America, for which he is in the process of acquiring nonprofit status.

The group wants a new generation to take up the art, but decoy carving began as a trade, which allowed carvers to make money selling their works to hunters, Kirkman said.

"You carry it a step beyond the craft, and it starts turning into an art," Kirkman said.

Kirkman has set up a booth at the N.C. State Fair's Village of Yesteryear for several years. It's where he met Ines, whose mother, Jennifer, had been looking for a hobby for her then 9-year-old son.

"I didn't want anything to do with it," Ines said. "It looked really boring. ... I liked Legos."

He quickly changed his mind when he realized that he could change a chunk of tupelo into a work of art.

"I was really surprised with what I could do with some instruction," Ines said.

Now he's on his fourth bird, a grebe that has yet to be fully carved.

The show process for the goldeneye in hand has nearly run its course. It already has been entered in several shows, and pieces may be entered only once in each show.

Asked how long he had been working on the duck, Ines paused and said, "Two, three years."

He mixed paint on a paper plate, adding blue and brown to produce "waterfowl black," which was mixed with white to get a shade of gray. Kirkman directed Ines as the five others whittled their own pieces of bare wood with hand-held electric tools and sandpaper.

Ines has his own Dremel rotary tool at home, and he has gotten his friends into the hobby; the Diard brothers - Marc, 12; Parker, 14; and Logan, 16 - join him for weekly classes.

Kirkman said his classes have drawn enough interest that he has waiting lists for adults and youths.

While much of his time is spent helping others to get better at the art, Kirkman does pine to win the world championship of decoy carving held in Maryland every year. He has come close, but at 68, he isn't sure he'll ever realize that dream.

"I asked Jared if I don't ever win the world championship, are you going to win it for me?" Kirkman said, noting that the boy nodded yes.

Ines may not be at that level yet, but Kirkman's goal to keep decoy carving alive has wings.