First Posted: 3/8/2015
SIDNEY — Christine Clayton, of Sidney, won the 2015 Ohio Duck Stamp art competition with her painting of wood ducks.
And not only is she one of the few women to win the contest, she is also the youngest artist to ever win since the contest began in 1982. She is 20 years old.
Ironically, Clayton beat out her dad, Matt Clayton, who finished second in the competition.
“If you look at the paintings, she’s got the edge on Dad,” he said. “I was hoping for the top 10, so I was happy. And she’s got young eyes, and that helps.”
The purpose of issuing a wetlands habitat stamp is to foster public awareness of the importance of wetlands and to help fund those objectives. Legislation directs the Division of Wildlife to share 40 percent of stamp sale revenues with a recognized wetlands conservation organization. To fulfill this need, the division has provided funding to Ducks Unlimited since that time.
Christine Clayton began participating in the federal Junior Duck Stamp Program back in 2003, when she was a second-grader. She said she started drawing so long ago that she’s not sure how old she was.
“Maybe 3, possibly earlier,” she said.
Her inspiration came from several generations of people who love the outdoors and were good with their hands, including her grandfather, and her mom and dad. She actually entered the federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest back in 2003, so she’s been perfecting her craft ever since.
It took every bit of two months for Christine Clayton to finish her painting, with her dad right there working on his for that long, too. And it wasn’t unusual to see Christine crying tears of frustration, the perfectionist in her coming out. And, of course, there were a lot of “start-overs.”
“It takes a lot of patience,” she said.
Her dad explained the significance of her win simply.
“Anytime you win a state contest, you’re in the big leagues,” he said.
Before entering a contest like this one, Christine Clayton and her dad don outdoor gear and set out with their cameras. That was in April, and Christine Clayton said she had in the back of her mind that she might paint one for the Ohio contest.
“We have studied everybody’s work,” Matt Clayton said. “In the contest, there were lots of nice paintings, but out of the 18 or 20 there, only about five or six were top quality that had the composition and the other things they look for.”
There are other state competitions she can enter, but both Claytons said the “Super Bowl” of duck stamp art is the federal Duck Stamp Contest.
“Winning that has been a dream of mine for a long time,” she said. “It would be like winning the Olympics.”
“Back in 1985, they called it the million-dollar duck, because if you won the federal Duck Stamp Contest, you were a millionaire, with all the prints that were sold,” Matt Clayton said. “Now, depending on how you market things, it might be around $200,000. But you’re against tough people and it’s extremely hard, because you’re at the mercy of the judges. If you win that, you’re considered the best wildlife artist in the nation for at least a year.”
And no, her state-winning painting will not be used in the federal contest because of “size constraints.” Each contest, explained Matt Clayton, requires different-sized paintings. So they will be out with their cameras this spring trying to photograph one of the five species that painters can use.
As for now, she has to make prints and give back 130 of them, so the $1,200 she won just covers those expenses. However, she will print a bunch of extra prints and then she will sell those for herself. And they will be desirable.
“At the end of the day, it will be a very lucrative thing for her,” her dad said.
But Christine Clayton also likes the other thing that came with it, maybe even a little more — the prestige.
