Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Geoffrey Auten is pictured here with a wooden American flag he created.

•May 31, 2017•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

Those acquainted with Geoffrey Auten know what a hidden talent Sullivan has in this quiet, unassuming artist who never saw a piece of wood he didn’t like.

Growing up he worked for many years with his father in a lumber yard where he probably developed his love of wood.

When Auten began duck hunting, he was fascinated by the wooden decoys. “Decoys,” he explained, “are a kind of folk art - each decoy is unique to the artist with no two ever being the same. You usually can’t buy them online.”

Supposedly, former Illinois governor James Thompson, a noted antique collector, paid     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.