So far, 2009 is turning out to be a busy year for me even with a very slow start due to a sluggish economy. The sign business is doing well and no big changes have taken place since my last writing. I entered a trade show for the first time in years to promote my business and so far it seems to have paid off. The second annual 2009 Daffodil Festival Home and Craft Show held in Chincoteague, VA was in April and had a fair turnout even with the high winds we dealt with during the festival weekend. See the link to the show on this website.
A slow January had me back at the art easle designing new art for upcoming competitions in the duck stamp world. This year I entered the Maryland Migratory Game Bird Design Competition, more commonly known as the Maryland duck stamp contest. With more time on my hands to actually concentrate on what I was working on, I came up with some really good designs. So good, in fact, I took first and second place out of the three paintings I sent in. I felt very confident about them so I talked the family into going to Laurel, MD with me to watch the contest unfold. As I viewed the other artwork in the contest, only a couple of entries from competitors raised my concern but I still felt confident in my work nontheless. The contest started at 12 noon and by 1PM that afternoon it was good to be me. After winning, I've got my work cut out for me with publishing and shipping out orders to the art galleries. Now I've got to take a three year break from MD as per rules so other artists can have a fair shot at it.
Another contest I entered this year was the Delaware. In this one, I received an Honorable Mention Award for landing in the top 6 out of about 45 entries from several states. I also attended this contest and it, too, was a fun experience although it is run much differently than Maryland. It was held at the Ducks Unlimited Greenwing Event in Greenwood, DE in April. My entry was a pair of Hooded Mergansers on open water in the bay. We have many of these ducks in the Delmarva region during the cold winter months. I'll try again next year and hope for the best.
Yet another contest I entered had birds as the theme but not just particularly waterfowl. I was scanning the Chincoteague Beacon newspaper one day and came across a 'call for artists' to enter the 15th Annual International Migratory Bird Celebration art logo contest. So I grabbed a pen and decided to draw a Great Horned Owl. This year's theme was the importance of certain birds to the Native Americans such as owls, hawks, ducks, woodpeckers and such. Anyone who has seen any species of owl knows these mysterious birds are loaded with detail on their feathers to help blend in with their wooded background. About two and a half hours of steady drawing and I was finished and ready to send it in.
About 2 weeks or so later I got the call from Head Ranger Sally Bowden that I had won. No cash award here but the publicity from the press release and local newspapers has me in the spotlight....if only for a while. I will also be the featured artist at the IMBC day held Sat. May 9, 2009 at the Herbert H. Bateman Educational and Administrative Center at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Chincoteague, VA. As a result of the publicity I will likely be a judge for the next Virginia Junior Federal duck stamp contest next year. Winning this contest was really fun.
One last event happened recently, and certainly of no less importance than
anything else. My daughter, Victoria, was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2009
International Migratory Bird Day Contest held in Chincoteague, Va. Her colored
pencil drawing of a Great-Horned Owl landed her in the top eight in her age
category (K-2nd grade) out of over 300 entries. This was Victoria's first ever
art contest and she scored big. Congradulations to Tori! This was a big
confidence booster for her and we're hoping she continues improving her skills
and enters more competitions. It looks like we have a third generation artist in
the family!