247 Ways to Look at Ducks

Federal stamp contest draws top artists to Sanibel Island
BY NANCY STETSON Florida Weekly Correspondent

ENTRY #219

The two canvasbacks bob in the water, riding on the swell of a wave: a male with his reddish-brown head and neck, the female next to him in drabber brown feathers, like a pilgrim who's forsaken all flashy attire. In the foreground: the head and beak of a bird with feathers in a peculiar swirling patern. ...and it slowly dawns on you that it's wood grain, and that that particular bird is a decoy. Then you look at the three birds bobbing behind the canvasbacks and realize: they're decoys too. The canvasbacks are hiding in plain view, consorting with the enemy. There's intelligence, personality, a spark of life behind their eyes. In the sky, a flock of birds are silhouetted against the peach and gray-blue puffy clouds. You hope they're out of range of the hunters. Meanwhile, the two canvasbacksbidetheir time, bobbing peacefully on the blue

ENTRY #168

water veined with ripples and reflections of sky. And that's painting No. 219, just one picture out of 247. The 247 images are this year's entries in the Federal Duck Stamp Contest, considered the nation's oldest and most prestigious wildlife contest. (It's also considered the only federally mandated art contest.) They can be seen at the Phillips Gallery at BIG Arts Center (900 Dunlop Road, Sanibel) from 1-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, through Oct. 20. The paintings line the four walls of the gallery, sectioned off in rows of six across, four deep.

There are mallards with green heads and yellow beaks, northern pintails with their distinctive long, thin tail feathers, blue-bodied harlequins, green-winged teals with green super-hero masks, and the larger canvasbacks.

The artists depict the birds flying, swimming, diving, taking off. One image shows harlequins underwater (No. 6), another shows them resting on a rock (No. 21). Others show the fowl nesting (No. 212 and 67).

They've also placed the birds in different environments, against different backgrounds. One flies in front of the Statue of Liberty (No. 24), another by what looks like the Sanibel lighthouse (No. 202). They're also shown at all times of day, including sunrise or sunset. One is even set at night, under a full moon (No. 156). Some paintings are close-ups, limiting the environment to only the blue of water against the feathered bodies, while one shows an aerial view with a patchwork quilt of land and a river dividing in two underneath two birds (No. 205).

ENTRY #87

Some are so photorealistic that visitors thought they were taken with a digital camera. One shows six northern pintails flying against a sepia sky, like an old photograph (No. 244).

"When I look at this art, it's my kind of art," says Kevin Godsea, lead park ranger of the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. "I love the outdoors, I love wildlife, I love waterfowl. When I see this, it speaks to me more than an abstract painting does.

"The collective whole of 247 of the country's best wildlife artists enter this contest every year and it's absolutely gorgeous to see it all together."

ENTRY #160

It's also rare - the annual contest is usually held in Washington D.C. And for the past two years it's been held in Memphis. But because this is the 75th anniversary of the Federal Duck Stamp, it's being held on Sanibel Island.

That's because Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, created the federal duck stamp program and created the first duck stamp. The chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey (the forerunner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Darling came up with the idea of a Federal Duck Stamp which waterfowl hunters 16 years and older are required to purchase. The stamps are not used for general postage but are affixed to hunting licenses.

Ironically, the program turns hunters into conservationists, whether or not they want to be; the money raised goes towards purchasing and preserving wetlands -- where all wildlife is protected. The first stamp in 1935, which sold for $1, raised $635,000.

According to Godsea, 98 cents of each dollar goes to purchasing wetlands. To date, more than 5.2 million acres have been purchased with $700 million raised from the stamps.

ENTRY #205

Five judges determine each year's winner.

"Some are fish and wildlife employees, some are wildlife artists," says Godsea. "We try to get a mix to judge a competition like this. You need artists who know what good art looks like, composition, artistic techniques. You need to know what the birds look like and their anatomy, their colors, their feather groupings.

"Another thing they look at is what the artists know of the birds themselves: their habitat, and do they look like that at that time of the year? Sometimes the artists don't get it right. And they also look at what art will look good on a stamp."

"The judges are randomly chosen, no one knows who they are," says Jim Mathisen, who also works at the refuge. "The judges sit in booths with

partitions between them, so they can't

influence each other [when they vote

on the artwork.] Digital images of the paintings are flashed upon a screen. A waterfowl biologist is there to answer any questions. These pictures have to be biologically correct and environmentally correct."

ENTRY #20

He points out No. 152, of an American Green-Winged Teal in the snow, as an example.

"It's wintertime, so he's lost his green mask," Mathisen explains. "They also consider how the image would look shrunk down [to stamp size], if it would lose detail."

The exhibition's closed during the two days it takes to determine a winner, but visitors are invited to the watch the judging. Opening ceremonies and first half of the competition which will be held 1 - 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, in BIG Art's Schein Hall. The judges winnow down their selections on the first day. On Saturday the competition continues at 9 a.m. with Rounds II and III. The winner is announced at noon. Many artists choose to attend in person, but if the winner isn't there, they're called and congratulated on a speaker phone.

While the award is an honorary one - the artist does not receive any money - being a duck stamp winner can be quite lucrative. Artists sell prints of their work and their elevated status also brings them more work. And for a year, the winning design and the top 20 entries are exhibited at museums and festivals around the country. In the meantime, Southwest Floridians can see all 247 entries at BIG Arts and vote on which one they think will be the winner. There are so many worthy entries, so many intriguing paintings, it's difficult to pick just one.

ENTRY #244

"I have my own personal Top 10," Godsea jokes.

Visitors grapple with the same problem.

But at noon Saturday, Oct. 13, a winner will be announced, and philatelic history will be made yet again.

If you go

>>What: Federal Duck Stamp Contest Exhibit >>When: 1-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, through Oct. 20 (exhibit closed Oct. 12 and 13 during official judging)

>>Where: Phillips Gallery at BIG Arts Center, 900 Dunlop Road, Sanibel Island >>Cost: Free >>Information: Call 472-1100 or go to www. fws.gov/duckstamp75.

ENTRY #29

>>Also: Week-long activities at J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, with a Family Fun Day on Sunday, Oct. 14.