Tommy Rogers

Text and photos by Bill Einsig unless noted 

With many years of woodcraft  behind him, Tommy Rogers turned to carving decoys in 1986. A quarter  century later, Tommy's detail carving and fine painting is tough  competition at local and national carving shows. But winning another  ribbon is not what most interests this North Carolina carver.

Tommy Rogers

In 2007, I found Tommy Rogers on the corner of the stage filming judging  Tommy Rogers at the Core Sound Decoy Festival. We talked about his filming project and its potential use on the developing IWCA Web site that had just launched in April of that year. As we discussed the purpose of the site and what we hoped it would do for wildfowl carving, Tommy said, "If there's anything I can do to help you and IWCA, let me know." That's not an unusual offer to hear, but it is unusual that Tommy stood by that offer and has never failed to share his expertise and advice whenever asked. In fact, several of the how-to articles in the IWCA Library were projects he first developed for local carvers through grants from the Ward Foundation. He went out of his way to share the photos and step-by-step directions with IWCA. Tommy says he has always been active in the woodshop making furniture, plaques, and other woodcraft projects. But by the mid '80s, he was looking for something new.   Chessie Class (Photo by Tommy Rogers) He says John Cole of Morehead City, North Carolina introduced him to carving decoys in 1986. When he first saw John's work he said, "I can't do that." But John said, "Yes, you can. Give it a try." John gave Tommy a worn-out knife, a block of wood, and a mallard drake as a model. Tommy was hooked. Tommy taught himself to paint and admired the work of Jack Cox. That's interesting because Brother Gaskill once said that as he developed his own skills, he learned from both Tommy and Jack. "My booth at the show is between Jack Cox and Tommy Rogers. Now that's quite a pair to learn from," Brother said. In his early days, Tommy worked to develop the fancy texturing of the decorative floating birds. Another carver finally told him to "get the anatomy right" before he started to texture. Tommy says he realizes now that he had some of the "prettiest feathers on the ugliest birds." Tommy followed that advice, turned his study to anatomy, and began painting slicks. He soon learned that painting a slick for detail was far more difficult than painting a textured bird and took far longer. He now says that painting a slick for detail takes him about four times longer than painting a textured bird. Today, Tommy enjoys carving fancier ducks for either IWCA Style Decoys, Decorative Floating, or Decorative Nonfloating. Knowing his creativity and love of experimenting with new ideas, however, it would not be surprising to see a few shorebirds or songbirds coming from his shop. Like many carvers, Tommy does few commissions. He enjoys the freedom of following his own interests and doesn't like to work from a list. While he sells many of his carvings to collectors, others are given away and many are donated for worthy fundraising efforts at carving shows, churches, and other community events. Tommy was a manager at Dupont for thirty years until he retired. He says, "I was the typical hard-driving, Type A personality." But, that changed suddenly in 1991. He had a massive heart attack while in the ER at a local hospital. His heart stopped six times and six times the ER doctors had to shock him to restart his troubled heart. If the attack had happened anywhere but in the ER, Tommy knows he would not be with us today. Tommy says the episode affected his troubled heart in another, even more significant, way. Although he had previously attended church, he really didn't know the Lord as his Savior. In the months that followed the heart attack, Tommy was drawn closer to the Lord and became an ardent believer in Christ. While "jailhouse conversions" and "ER conversions" can, at times, be suspect, Tommy's realization of the Lord's hand in his life is real. Friends and co-workers who knew him before the heart attack had difficulty understanding the change in his life and attitude. For Tommy, it was a change only the Lord could bring about and one that started within his heart and grew outward. He now believes that all he's done in his life—C-130 crew chief in the Air Force, draftsman, cabinet maker, managing people in the Air Force and Dupont, working with crafts and carving, even his heart attack—were all experiences he was given to prepare him for helping others for God's glory. Following the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999, Tommy worked with the North Carolina Baptist Men for fourteen months assisting families in his area rebuild their flooded homes. Tommy says, “I want to live for Christ, and I want to use the gifts he has given me to bring praise, honor, and glory to HIM." More fine carvings by Tommy Rogers are in the IWCA Carvers' Gallery.