Maurer again wins duck stamp contest By Larry Myhre
Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal
This is the painting of the Hooded Merganser
which will become the Iowa Duck Stamp for 2010. (Submitted photo)
Darren Maurer, Sioux City, has won the Iowa Duck Stamp Contest for an unprecedented fourth time.
Maurer’s painting of a Hooded Merganser drake was judged the best from entries from around the nation on Feb. 12 in Des Moines, Iowa. It will be featured on the Iowa duck stamp for the year 2011. The painting will also be the Iowa Ducks Unlimited sponsor print for the same year.
This win earns Maurer the honor of becoming the only artist in the thirty-eight year history of the Iowa art contest to win the Iowa Duck Stamp four different times.
Maurer was previously tied with artists Paul Bridgeford, Dietmar Krumrey, and the legendary Maynard Reece with three Iowa stamps each to their name.
“Winning number four is definitely something I will remember for a long time,” Maurer said. “Having four duck stamps and two Artist of the Year titles goes way beyond what I ever thought possible since sending that first painting off in the mail ten years ago.”
Maurer’s paintings of waterfowl have earned several prestigious honors in the Ducks Unlimited art competition. Maurer won both the 2001 and 2002 Duck Stamp contests, making him the only artist to win in back to back years before or since then. In 2007, he won the Duck Stamp competition and was named the Iowa Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year. Maurer is the only artist to win both of those honors in the same year. He was also named Iowa Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year for a second time in 2010.