IRA SKEES (Sprigs)

Where are you from?
Born and raised in Norfolk, VA. Came to the Eastern Shore of Virginia after graduating from Old Dominion University in '86 to accept a position as a trajectory analyst with NASA at Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility.

When did you start?
Start what? I was born in the winter of '53. If it's carving you're refering to, I started carving sometime around '95. Can't say for certain since it was something that sort of evolved from a number of other things I was doing at the time.

Why did you start?
I started carving seriously after I was shamed into doing so by my youngest son who was nine years old when he decided he wanted to shoot over something much higher in quality than the cheap plastic decoys we were using at the time when he accompanied me and his older brother Avery to the duck blinds on Wallops Island.

Favorite specie to carve?
My favorite specie of duck is the pintail.

Favorite specie to hunt?
My favorite specie of duck to hunt is the black duck. Here on the Shore, black ducks are rather plentiful, and it doesn't take a lot of decoys and effort to score your limit of one black per day. This was one of the reasons that I took my sons hunting with me a lot. We could legally score three black ducks per outing, and they loved being in the blind simply messing around.

If you compete, what level (Novice, Intermediate, Open, etc.) and Category?
The only competitions I've entered are the Doubtful Antique comps in Sacramento, and the Contemporary Antiques comps at the Ward Museum and in Ocean City.

Most memorable win?
The best win I had was at the World's in OC in 2007. Placed both first and second BOS in the CA comp.

Favorite Show?
It's hard to single out one show that I like the best. They all have their merits. The ones I tend to favor are the Chesapeake Challange in October, The Easton Wildfowl Festival in November, Westlake in March, and St. Michaels and The World's in April.

Most influence on your carving style?
Without doubt, the biggest influences on my carving and painting have to be Reggie Birch and Mark McNair. Not that either of these gentlemen have ever actually "taught" me any thing, they've both certainly influenced the direction I've taken.

Who started you - mentor(s)?
I'd have to say that I'm 100% self taught.

Favorite medium? (Wood and paint)
Yes, I agree. Wood and Paint are definitely my favorite mediums.

What are you working on now? Future plans?
Right now, I'm at my desk working on answering these questions. In the near future, I plan to leave work and continue painting a trio of oversized, hollow bodied curlews that I'm making for a gentleman up in Northern Virginia.

Favorite style of carving
(Decorative, antique, gunners, IWCA, shorebird)
It would be a safe bet to say my favorite style of carving would be the antiques.

If you could add three birds to your collection, what specie and from whom?
Don't hold this against me, but I'd really like to get back the three best decoys I've carved to date. I won't say which ones they are though for fear of possibly offending someone that feels that their decoys are the best I've carved to date. Other than that, I really wish I'd have scored that trio of canvas backs that TGUN did for the Shootin' Rig comp at the World's (I believe) in 2006. To me, they were the best birds on the bench that year. I think Grayson Chesser would agree with me on that asessment as well.

Most difficult part of carving in your mind?
Practically every part of what I do has a fair amount of difficulty associated with it. If it were easy, I wouldn't be doing it. The most overriding factor of difficulty is that everything I've achieved to date has been through trial and error. There were no "How-To" manuals when I started, and there are very few now. We all know that this is about to change soon enough. That's why I've recently started in a new direction that pretty much leaves behind what I've done in the past. Hopefully, somebody else will come along at a later date and write a book on that as well. That will be the time I change directions again.

Who, or what, inspires you?
I draw inspiration from many different sources. As far as inspiration in style, I'd have to say I lean towards the vintage Virginia and Carolina (both North and South) schools of carving. As you're probably familiar, the Virginia school has the most variation of style than either of the Carolinas.

Name 5-10 essentials for carving

Pencils, hatchet, chopping block, spokeshave, good gouges, a couple of veiners, a fair selection of knives, a good strop, a pair of Nicholsen rasps, sheets of plate glass for scraping, a bit of 60-80 grit sand paper, an open mind, and a willingness to try things that don't make any sense what-so-ever. A nice chair to sit in and some righteous music is also a good thing.