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The decoys in the above print were carved by the Ward Brothers. The Ward brothers began their decoy carving on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, making hunting decoys to aid in bagging birds for market or table. Working as a team to produce in volume, Lem Ward did most of the carving and Steve Ward did the painting. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson were said to have hunted over the Ward brothers’ decoys. Although Lem Ward is reported to have made a few ornamental decoys on special order as early as the 1920s, it was in the early 1950s that he decided to make ducks that looked like ducks. So began the popular art form of decorative wildfowl carving.
The Artist:
Pat Henry is a native of Maryland's Eastern Shore. His works have shown throughout the region, and he has lectured or taught in association with--or won commissions from--the Maryland State Arts Council, the Worcester County Board of Education, The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Salisbury State University. He has also won several regional awards related to tourism and wildlife conservation.
Mr. Henry never left the bays, creeks, shores, and countryside that inspire his work. After teaching art for 12 years, he left his career to pursue his lifelong love of art, capturing his homeground in oils.
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