Minnetonka resident wins 2010 Minnesota Pheasant Stamp contest.

Minnetonka artist David Chapman’s painting of a pheasant in a snowy cornfield was chosen as the winning design from among 22 entries in the 2010 pheasant habitat stamp contest sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Ten entries advanced to the second stage of judging, from which four finalists were selected Thursday, Oct. 1, at DNR Headquarters in St. Paul. Thomas Groess of Cottage Grove took second place and Mark Thone of Shakopee took third.

“Wildlife really is near and dear to my heart,” Chapman said. “When I got the call that I was the winner, I was getting ready for opening day of duck season.”

The five-member panel of judges this year included Eran Sandquist, Pheasants Forever biologist; Jay Johnson, DNR hunter recruitment and retention coordinator; Brad Cobb, former chair of the Game and Fish Budgetary Oversight Committee; Jason Abraham, DNR season-setting specialist; and Collin Grant, a DNR graphic artist.

Chapman is a third-generation artist who was inspired by his grandmother and father, Loyal “Bud” Chapman, whose surrealistic paintings of unconventionally placed golf holes have become famous. He has won several state wildlife stamp contests since he entered his first stamp contest in the late 1980s.

But Chapman doesn’t consider himself to be an aspiring wildlife artist. “Through the recognition I’ve received in these contests, I’ve received residual work. But most of my time is spent managing my dad’s art business.”

The $7.50 Pheasant Stamp is required of all Minnesota pheasant hunters ages 18 through 64. Since 1983 stamp sales have generated more than $15.5 million for habitat enhancement efforts on both public and private lands in the pheasant range of Minnesota.

The DNR offers no prizes for the stamp contest winner, but the winning artist retains the right to reproduce the work, which is usually done as limited edition prints. The 2010 Pheasant Stamp will be available for sale in March 2010.

That is truly an amazing piece of art there!~! Congrats to him!~!