A Kansas man took home first place in the 2011 Louisiana Waterfowl Conservation Stamp Competition for his rendering of two wood ducks standing on a stump. The image will be used on the LDWF hunting permit commonly known as the Louisiana Duck Stamp.
Wes Dewey unanimously beat out 14 other competitors and was recognized at the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission’s Nov. 4 meeting as the 2011 winner.
Dale Pousson of Egan, the 2003 winner, came in second place, while third place went to 1994 winner Don Edwards from Keithville. Last year, Delaware’s Richard Clifton won the contest.
Dewey has previously won the 1990 Kansas Duck Stamp, was the 2007 Kansas Ducks Unlimited sponsored print artist and has placed eighth two different years in the Federal Duck Stamp contest. Dewey’s painting of a male and female wood duck perched on a weathered stump will be featured on the 2011 Louisiana Duck Stamp.
“The department was happy with the quantity of entries this year, but we were blown away by the quality of the paintings,” LDWF Waterfowl Study Leader Larry Reynolds said. “Dewey’s painting showed exceptional attention to detail with the features and scale of wood ducks and will make a fine duck stamp.”
For this years’ competition, LDWF let the artist choose any migratory waterfowl species known to winter in Louisiana except for pintails, which were featured on this year’s duck stamp.
The Louisiana Waterfowl Conservation Stamp program was established in 1988 by the Louisiana Legislature to generate revenue for conservation and enhancement of state wetlands and other worthy programs that benefit Louisiana’s ducks and geese. This program has generated over $11 million for wetland conservation in Louisiana since 1989, with over $400,000 from last year’s stamp sales alone.
The 2011 stamp, featuring Dewey’s work, is expected to go on sale June 1, 2011. The artist will retain the original artwork and will have reproduction rights to the image for prints and other commodities after LDWF has used the image to produce the stamps.
Judges for the competition were Luke Laborde, R.C. Davis, Dean Bergeaux, Jerry Bowers, and Dr. Clint Jeske. Laborde is a PhD student at LSU on a Delta Waterfowl scholarship doing research on human dimensions in waterfowl management; Davis, a professional artist in Amite, is a past winner of the Louisiana Duck Stamp contest for the 1998-99 stamp design; Bergeaux is a pharmacist in Crowley and current State Chairman for Ducks Unlimited; Bowers is a duck stamp collector and owns Stitch and Frame gallery and frame shop in Lafayette; and Dr. Jeske is a research ecologist specializing in wetland birds for the USGS National Wetland Research Center in Lafayette as well as a decoy carver.
