Clarence Lewis is one of the many fine carvers who called Stacy, North Carolina, home. One of the small towns on the barrier islands between the ocean and the North Carolina coast, and a historical site for duck hunting, it’s located in Carteret County, the geographic center of coastal North Carolina. Lewis, born and raised in Stacy, was well known among the carvers who inhabited the region.
Lewis worked for his father’s fish house in his youth, then as a bus driver for a local transit company. Like his neighbors, he turned to hunting for his own needs and subsequently took up decoy carving. Lewis counted Mitchel Fulcher (1869-1950), Eldon Willis (1908-1981), Elmer Salter (1902-1964), Irving Fulcher (1896-1982), and Homer Fulcher (1918-1995) among his fellow carvers.
Lewis produced decoys whose bodies are slim and rounded with highly-stylized painted characteristics. The heads are well-carved and bear strong resemblance to other Stacy carvers. In his later years, Lewis set up a decoy shop at his home, which became a gathering spot for area carvers and hunters.
For additional information
Carteret Waterfowl Heritage, 1993, by Jack Dudley.
Waterfowl Heritage: North Carolina Decoys and Gunning Lore, 1983, by William N. Conoley.