Jim Foote was born in 1925 in Gibraltar, Michigan and died in 2004. Gibraltar is where the Detroit River widens and flows into Lake Erie. It is a very fertile area for water fowl and other wildlife.
He worked as a biologist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, quitting after 27 years to devote his time to wildlife art. In his forties he became seriously involved with professional bird carving and entered bird carving contests. He was a self-trained artist who developed many of the techniques that he used in making his decorative decoys. He is most recognized as one of the first professional carvers to actually add feather texturing to the traditional decoys. He also carved fish decoys as well.
Mr Foote's work has been extensively reproduced and is widely available from secondary sources like eBay.
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| I spent time canoeing on Michigan's Au Sable river. This scenery reminds me of those days. |
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| More Au Sable-looking river. |
Wow. And self taught. Thanks ERJ, and thanks as always for continuing the tradition.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work of beautiful places and creatures that live here. That's why I live here instead of in the "Villages" or the other artificial places. --ken
ReplyDeleteAlways love wood ducks! Anon that makes $30k a month, not so much!
ReplyDeleteirontomflint
Fixt it
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