30 September 2013

On Saturday, 28 September, the winning piece of waterfowl artwork was chosen at the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest, held in northwestern Ohio. An impressive pair of Canvasbacks at the edge of a marsh will become the 2014-2015 Federal Duck Stamp.

Adam Grimm, of Burbank, South Dakota, won the art competition, when his oil painting was judged the best of 201 entries. Eligible species for the contest this year included Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Gadwall, Mallard, and Canvasback.

Grimm now becomes a two-time winner of the contest. His impressive painting of a Mottled Duck appeared on the 2000-2001 Federal Duck Stamp.

Curiously, Grimm's daughter, Madison Grimm, won the Junior Duck Stamp competition earlier this year. Her painting of a drake Canvasback on the water is the current artwork on the 2013-2014 junior stamp.

The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp – commonly called the Federal Duck Stamp and increasingly called the Migratory Bird Stamp – raises about $25 million annually, of which 98 percent goes toward purchase of migratory bird habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

"For eight decades, hunters, birders, and millions of other people who purchase Federal Duck Stamps have made a direct contribution to wildlife conservation through protection of wetland habitats," said Jerome Ford, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assistant director for migratory birds.

Here is Adam Grimm's website where you can view his work:
http://www.adamgrimm.com/index2.html