Hat Trick

Limited Edition Print
Edition of 450 S/N
Image: 11″ x 14″
Overall: 15″ x 19″
$125

35 Artist Proofs available with original watercolor remarques.
$200

This is “Quigley,” my pet mallard, again. He was about two weeks old when I did this painting; as I write this, he is now four years old and very much a part of the family.  His story has been told in the histories of “Duck Soup” and “Duck Boot,” and he is getting so famous that I might have to pay him royalties at some point. Actually, I spend about $15 a week for crickets and worms at the local bait shop for “Quig” and his partner, “Aflac,” another drake mallard. We also buy corn and rice for them. This is one pair of SPOILED ducks. My neighbor keeps threatening to barbecue them.

While all of the “Quigley” paintings are fun, this one is a bit more “tongue in cheek,” since he is resting in one of my Ducks Unlimited hunting hats.  While I don’t hunt anymore (how could I when two ducks climb up on my lap when I sit in the grass?),   I have been a member of D.U. for many years and won some state “Artist of the Year” competitions, and my work has raised a considerable amount of money over the years for the conservation and management of waterfowl habitat. I’m proud of that.

A wildlife biologist told me that a duck’s life expectancy in the wild is about 4 years and up to 10 years in captivity if well taken care of. Based on that, “Quig” and “Aflac” will be around for awhile, so I’ll always have some good subject matter.