Shorebird: William Matthews Black-bellied Plover

I created this piece in homage to my father

From the artist, Dale Weiler: This black-bellied plover, initially carved by William Matthews in the early 1900s, is a bronze rendition that I created from one of my father's watercolor paintings in the Classic Shorebird Series.  Dad (Milton C. Weiler) had a reverence for these early bird carvers, given their ability to create such elegance in these working decoys with just the essence of detail.

 To create the bronze, I carved the bird from a block of heirloom wood from the stash my father had left me and sculpted the base from a piece of stone from my rock pile. I do believe Dad is smiling down in approval of the collaborative effort.