About the Artist
About Robert Capriola
Robert L. Capriola was born in 1959 in Stamford, Connecticut, the youngest of three children. His interest in waterfowl and hunting began during fall trips to the Remington Gun Club on Stratford Island, Connecticut, where he observed hunters returning from the marsh in boats and camouflage.
Robert made his first decoys in 1974 for hunting the Potomac River bottomlands and began exploring the rich history and traditions of hunting and decoys he discovered on Maryland's Eastern Shore. During this period, production was limited to six pairs of puddle duck decoys made from Styrofoam and a handful of Canada goose silhouettes.
Early Education and Decoy Beginnings
After high school, Robert attended the University of Colorado’s School of Engineering. However, after a year and a half, he left school to work for the U.S. Forest Service. While working in southeast Alaska in 1979, Robert had the opportunity to hunt a coastal marsh and crafted a dozen solid mallard decoys from Alaska yellow cedar, along with a couple of dozen plywood Canada goose silhouettes.
A Turning Point in Craftsmanship
Before returning to college at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, Robert worked in the shop of full-time carver and hunting guide Bill Pinches. Bill became Robert's mentor and introduced him to the world of antique decoy collecting, carving competitions, and boatbuilding. The year 1980 marks the beginning of Robert’s rise as a nationally recognized carver. He began producing a wide variety of working decoys for personal use and started offering decorative and functional decoys for sale. Soon, he became known as one of the few full-time professional carvers on the West Coast.
Robert carved full-time between his graduation in 1985 and his return to Humboldt State in 1993 to pursue a Master's degree in natural resources. During this period, he produced a wide variety of carvings in styles ranging from highly detailed, decorative, life-size pieces for the tabletop to working decoys in original, yet traditional styles. In addition to carving commissioned work and work for sale at shows and auctions, he built his personal rig of several hundred duck, goose, and brant decoys for his own use. Several best-in-show awards and his willingness to teach others led to many invitations to judge, including opportunities to judge at the Ward Foundation World's Carving Competition.
Professional Achievements and New Directions
After completing his Master’s degree in 1996, Robert began working for the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. In 1997, he relocated to California's Central Valley to become a waterfowl habitat biologist for the California Waterfowl Association. Since then, his production has been limited to several dozen working decoys per year. In early 2007, Robert decided to offer a limited number of carvings from his hunting rig for sale to past patrons and the general public.
In July 2008, Robert left CWA for Westervelt Ecological Services Inc., a private firm specializing in habitat restoration and mitigation. He now splits his time between the Sacramento office and his home in Chico, while continuing to enjoy annual hunting trips to Canada and fishing coastal waters in his Boston Whaler.