From his early days, Joseph Cotler has always enjoyed sketching and working in the school shop class. But growing up on a farm and ultimately having his own farm and providing for his family, timing did not permit. Around 1970, he was introduced to a gentleman who had a few guys who would meet in his basement weekly and learn the art of creating duck decoys. Over the next 4+ decades, he would create dozens of pieces of art worthy of any institution or museum. Primarily concentrating on waterfowl because of the vibrant colors and intricacy of the feathers, and then venturing into carousel animals. To provide detail-to-scale, he would go to the library and paper a wall, then, with the use of an opaque projector, after weeks of research, sketch the animal on the wall with proper proportionate sizing. He would then cut, glue, and clamp the wood, and then begin chiseling and forming his piece of art. Often approached by others to purchase, he could never part with his creations. Only family members were lucky enough to be given. He did deviate for a couple of projects and rebuilt a 1950 Chris-Craft boat. He would cut the boards and then take them to the back pond to soak, to allow some flexibility when building. He also designed and crafted his bedroom set. His preferred wood for his carvings is Basswood.