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Eric Kaiser (B. 1952) grew up on Long Island, New York. Entirely self-taught, Kaiser’s artistic career grew out of an admiration for both contemporary and antique decoys, especially those created by A. Elmer Crowell (1862-1952), a master American carver from Cape Cod. Inspired to learn the art of bird carving, Kaiser developed a keen interest in birds and has since become a highly-skilled carver and artist in his own right, a difficult feat, as this art form requires expertise in multiple disciplines.
Kaiser employs both traditional and modern methods in his craft, starting with a block and pattern, and meticulously transforming these into carvings that are alternately lifelike and stylistic, depending on his purpose. For his subjects, he prefers shorebirds and waterfowl, of which there are an abundant number to observe near his home in Cotuit, Massachusetts. A hallmark of Kaiser’s birds are his exceptionally fine paintings in oil. This signature, elevates his sense of realism and allows him to convincingly mimic the appearance of feathers and markings with lifelike details.
His work has been the subject of full-length articles in Wildfowl Carving Magazine, Cape Cod Life, and Cape Cod View magazines, and has been featured in exhibitions at the Peabody Essex Museum, the Thornton W. Burgess Society, the Cahoon Museum of American Art, the Cape Cod Museum of Art, the Ward Foundation, and the Anne Kolb Nature Center in Florida. Kaiser is a two-time World Champion ribbon winner at the Decorative Decoy Pairs, and has been awarded the rank of “World Master Carver” by the Ward Foundation. His Horned Grebe, was awarded “Best in Category, Second Best in Show,” at 2011’s Ward World Championship.