The Waterfowl Festival is proud to announce that the 2022 Featured Artist is Richard Clifton and the featured artwork is his painting, “November Morning-Pintails.”
Clifton is a world-renowned wildlife artist and won the 2007 and 2020 Federal Duck Stamp contest.
“The Waterfowl Festival is truly fortunate and honored to have Richard Clifton selected as its 2022 Featured Artist,” said Kenneth Miller, president of the Waterfowl Festival board of directors. “Richard is one of our country’s premier artists for paintings that capture the beauty of waterfowl within their natural habitat. His compositions evoke a unique, if not varied set off emotions and feelings among experienced waterfowlers, naturalists and art collectors alike.”
“November Morning-Pintails” by Richard Clifton
Clifton is a self-taught, award-winning artist. Waterfowl are one of his favorite subjects and he has painted 53 duck stamps from various states and countries, including the 1996 Australian Duck Stamp.
Clifton’s art has been chosen several times for the Ducks Unlimited National Art Package and he was named Artist of the Year by DU three times.
“As a wildlife artist, it has always been a career dream of mine to be the featured artist for a show,” says Clifton. “So, I was both humbled and honored to be named 2022 featured artist for the Waterfowl Festival.”
Clifton first exhibited at the Festival in 2006. His work is sought by domestic & international fine art collectors.
“The long tradition of the festival promoting ducks and geese and my love of painting waterfowl are coming together, and it feels like a good fit,” says Clifton. “We should all be excited by the hope and promise this brings as we gather in November.”
About the Painting
For Waterfowl Festival 2022, Clifton created a painting that is understated and elegant.
“November Morning-Pintails” evokes calm. Soft background light sets apart the ducks – three drakes and two hens. The contrasting patterns on the ducks give variety, while the colors serve to tie them together in a warm, serene composition.
The painting is 24”x36” unframed, and 32”x44” framed. The framed original is being offered for $12,000.
Posters will also be available closer to the date of the Festival.
“I’m so honored that the waterfowl festival has ask me to be their featured artist, and so grateful of the people that I’ve met in the last few years, both that work with the festival and -I’m gonna call them friends- the people that have come out and supported me and my artwork,” said Clifton. “It’s big shoes to fill, but I’m hoping together we can kick off the next 50 years with the same enthusiasm and anticipation that was there all those years ago when this great vision began.
About the Featured Artist Program
Waterfowl Festival’s Featured Artist Program was created in 2010 to generate excitement about a chosen artist and their visual interpretation of the bounty of our natural habitat. It encourages visitors to meet the artist and see the featured piece “up close.”
The Featured Artwork is the inspiration for the year’s marketing theme and keeps the visual identity of the Festival fresh and current. The painter or sculptor chosen each year showcases the variety and high-quality art that the Festival is known for to a new and returning audience.
About the Waterfowl Festival
Waterfowl Festival Inc. is a 501c(3) dedicated to wildlife conservation, the promotion of wildlife art, and the celebration of the life and culture of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Now in its 51st year, the festival continues to draw thousands of visitors throughout the mid-Atlantic.
Admission is only $20 for all three days.
VIP and corporate sponsorship packages are also available. For more information, visit www.waterfowlfestival.org or call 410-822-4567.
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