Biography
Mark McNair (b. 1950) has been carving and making decoys for a half a century. After leaving his alma mater, Rhode Island School of Design, in the 1970s, McNair worked with antiques and carved wooden signs in his native Connecticut. During this time he was introduced to antique decoys by the Voorhees family and quickly took to the craft. McNair now lives and carves on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, between the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.
Of their three children, sons Ian and Colin are also active carvers. Ian carves in Exmore, Virginia. Colin is the a decoy specialist for Copley Fine Art Auctions in Pembroke, Massachusetts.
McNair specializes in waterfowl and shorebird decoys, weathervanes, and related folk art. His work is held in, numerous prominent decoy collections both public and private. Public collections and exhibitions include the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, the Atlantic Wildfowl Heritage Museum in Virginia Beach, and The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury, MD, The Center For American Decoys at The Peoria Riverfront Museum, and the Wendell Gilley Museum, on Mount Desert Island, Maine.
Mark McNair, Modest Town, VA, c. 1980