Issue link: http://southshoremagazine.uberflip.com/i/292821
16 While he grew up around carving and hunting equipment, he has only been carving seriously since the mid 1980's. After he retired in 1998, he started doing research and began collecting. He also sells decoys he carves, and has a steady business of hunters who buy decoys to hunt over. He also repairs and restores collection pieces. He says many of the carvers he sees today create better decoys in an artistic sense. Sarni explains that the original decoys were real working tools, and current ones are more for decoration. "Today they push the envelope to make them more decorative with feathers and paint to make them look real. I prefer the old, traditional, smooth style decoy, and I enjoy the history behind them." He, too, has a nice collection of "Joe Lincolns" on display in his home. Bill has been selected many times as one of the top traditional folk artisans in America by Early American Life Magazine. According to the magazine, the selection panel looked for authentic design and workmanship, whether the artist is reproducing or interpreting a period style. For the last 10 consecutive years, the magazine had also honored Sarni as one of the top 200 traditional craftsmen in the country. Bill takes his inspiration from his backyard on the banks of the Weir River, where waterfowl and shore birds are all around him. The setting reminds him of the Accord Pond area of his childhood. His roots run all through the South Shore area, and all the way to the State House, where his nephew, Senator Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth), serves. He works out of his red barn, built for him by students from the North Bennett Street School in Boston for a timber framing class. Inside, the bright, open space is dominated by a large work table, while along the walls are photos, carving tools, patterns for various birds, works in progress, and repair jobs. This is where most of the teaching happens, although he also conducts workshops in Nantucket. He teaches two classes per week, every year, beginning in October and continuing through the winter. He teaches a maximum of 7 or 8 at a time in either the Tuesday night or Saturday class. He wants to pass along his craft to as many people as he can. "I enjoy teaching, I tell you. I get a student, and I give him a block of wood, and I know exactly what they're saying to themselves," he laughs, and continues, "they're saying, there's no way…..then they start to get a little confidence in themselves, then they come back to the next class, year after year." He doesn't advertise, and he says he has repeat students who come every year to further hone their skills. He encourages students of all levels to check his website and try their hand at creating their own piece of American Folk Art. The tradition continues through both Bob Mosher and Bill Sarni, among many others who hold the art and history of the area sacred. Along with historic buildings, and settlers who began the history of the area, there's another, maybe richer, history, hidden in the woods, along the rivers, ponds, and seashore all through the South Shore. For more information: Bob Mosher: hhdecoys@aol.com Bill Sarni: www.wdsdecoys.com Peter and Diane Clarke, The Sportsman's Eye: www.sportsmanseye.com