By By MIKE VOSS
mike@wdnweb.com
Contributing Editor
Richard Clifton’s painting of a pair of Canada geese in a fall-winter pasture setting took first place in the N.C. Waterfowl Conservation Stamp competition held Monday at the Washington Civic Center.
“I was tickled to death to win,” said Clifton, 50, when contacted at his gallery in Milford, Del., Monday afternoon.
The competition, a joint project of the East Carolina Wildfowl Guild and N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, is a prelude to the 16th-annual East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships set for Feb. 11-13 in Washington.
“I want to,” Clifton said when asked if he plans to attend the unveiling of the competition’s top-five entries at a reception at the Civic Center the evening of Feb. 11. If his father’s illness doesn’t worsen, Clifton said, he likely will attend the reception.
Clifton’s winning entry, judged best out of 33 entries from 19 states and Mexico, will bring him $7,000 in prize money, plus a $300 travel allowance. The entry scored 43 points of a possible 45 points.
Clifton said he believes Canada geese look outstanding when seen in the setting of a pasture or field.
“I’ve always thought Canada geese are really pretty in fall-type grass,” said Clifton, who finished second in last year’s competition.
Tim Donovan of Lovettsville, Va., took second place in this year’s contest. Scot Storm of Freeport, Minn., took third place. Storm won last year’s competition and the 2008 contest. Jennifer Miller of Olan, N.Y., took the first honorable-mention ribbon, with Garrett Jacobs of Orlando, Fla., picking up the second honorable-mention ribbon.
Ron Louque, who’s judged all four of the contests held at the Civic Center, said the quality of entries in this year’s competition was about the same as the previous three contests he’s judged.
“I had to work it down,” Louque said when asked if he found a favorite entry or two during the first round of judging.
The best painting isn’t always picked, he said, because judges must find a winning entry that will translate well into a duck stamp.
“That’s the whole dilemma. It’s not the greatest painting; it’s the painting for a duck stamp,” Louque said.
Revenue from sales of the print and stamps go to the commission’s Waterfowl Fund, which provides money for the conservation of waterfowl habitat in North Carolina.
“The money is used to help North Carolina meet its financial obligations in implementing the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, the international agreement helping restore waterfowl populations throughout the continent. In addition, funds have been used to support waterfowl research and to buy equipment used to manage wetlands,” according to the commission’s Web site.
Editor’s note: Photographs or other images of the top-five entries may not be published until after they are unveiled at the Feb. 11 reception.