B. David DuncanB. David's interest in art began to develop at an early age by watching his father carve and sketch. With encouragement from his parents, he began his studies in high school. He then went on to study art at Hannibal-LaGrange Jr College in Hannibal, Missouri where he earned his Associate of Arts degree. From there he went to Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. In 1976 upon graduating with as Bachelor of Arts degree, he began teaching. In 1978 he decided to give up his teaching career and move to Texas to accept a position as an illustrator of school curriculum for a publishing company. While working there he continued to develop his own style, concentrating mainly on painting portraits and wildlife.
In 1988, B. David moved to Northwest Arkansas where he began painting in earnest. Being an avid duck hunter, waterfowl became the focal point of his paintings. Although he began to enter conservation stamp contests with his paintings, he still felt the need to be doing something more. On a trip to an area mall, he ran across a ‘how-to-book’ on how to carve decoys. He purchased it and began carving his carving career.
Soon found that he enjoyed carving more than he did flat painting. He found that instead of just creating a duck on a flat canvas, he was now actually able to put his hands around the subject and feel it come alive as he carved it. B. David carves primarily from basswood, occasionally using other woods depending upon the project. After the carving is finished he then paints it using acrylic paints.
B. David has been showing his carvings in competitions around the country and has won many major awards. Along with the decoys, he also competes with fish, birds and other carvings.
Recently he has become the new carver for Carry-Lite Decoys made by Prado Wildife Supplies, a division of Knight & Hale Game Calls out of Fort Smith, Arkansas. He has several of his duck and goose carvings reproduced which are available at outlets such as Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, Sportsmans Warehouse and others. Several more are currently in planning and carving stages for release at later dates.
Though B. David carves mainly for his own enjoyment and competitions, he also accepts commissions. If you are interested in his work or commissioning him to create you a new piece, please contact him at this E-mail listed below.
E-mail me at:
