Duck stamp reflects Clarkston woman’s hunting, birding and artistic talent

The work of a Clarkston, Washington, woman will be in the wallets of thousands of sportsmen in Delaware next fall.

Catherine Temple, 57, combined her love of hunting with her Chesapeake Bay retriever, bird watching, and her talent for painting dog portraits to win the annual Delaware Waterfowl Stamp contest.

The state has featured a specific breed of waterfowl and a specific breed of hunting dog. For the 2017 season, the state asked artists competing to have their submissions pair a Chesapeake Bay retriever with canvasback ducks.

Temple, who specializes in dog portraits as well as wildlife art, is also a duck hunter and the proud owner of Balin, a 2-year-old, 92-pound Chessie.

The contest seemed like her calling, she said. “I’m a big outdoor enthusiast, a birdwatcher, a hunter and I love taking photos – it’s all of my favorite things to do.”

She collected pictures of canvasbacks and of course used Balin, her third Chesapeake, as a model. But she has never been to Delaware and was unsure how to represent it. In the end she used a generic wetland habitat as the setting.

“Cattails are cattails,” she said.

However, key to any outdoor painting is the light. “I pay attention to that when I’m out early walking the dog or when we’re hunting,” she said. “Some people might be seeing just a bird, but I tend to look at the bird and analyze the quality of light on its feathers, eyes and background.”

After three attempts to get the background sky just the right color, she finished the painting and shipped it off. The judges chose her art as the best of 13 submitted. It will be reproduced as the state’s waterfowl stamp that duck and goose hunters are required to purchase and affix to the back of their licenses.

She will receive a $2,500 cash prize and 100 prints of her painting, which the state of Delaware now owns.

Temple says she’s been interested in birds and drawing birds since childhood. Her father raised exotic birds on their game farm in Illinois. She’s a self-taught artist.

“I’m thinking some of the other state contests – the federal one, I’m not sure I’m ready for that. That is such a huge thing.”

In 1934, at the behest of hunters, Congress passed the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act that requires duck and goose hunters to purchase a stamp to accompany their state hunting licenses. Proceeds from the sale of the stamps, which now cost $25, are used to purchase and protect wetlands and other waterfowl habitat.

The federal government first held an art contest for its duck stamp in 1949. Now the contest annually draws more than 100 entrants, and winning it is considered a top honor among the nation’s best wildlife artists.

Many states also require hunters to purchase a state waterfowl stamp. In Delaware it costs $9, and proceeds are used to preserve habitat.

Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this story.