The Waterfowl Festival is pleased to announce the 2024 Featured Artist, Ronnie Wells!

If one looks closely, you will see the sculpture as a detail within the painting!​

The Waterfowl Festival is honored to announce Texas-based artist Ronnie Wells as the Featured Artist for our 53rd festival and exhibition held in Easton, MD. Mr. Wells will exhibit both sculpture and paintings that he has created specifically for this event.

“Being asked to do the sculpture, as well as the Poster for the Waterfowl Festival,” Ronnie writes, “is one of the great  honors  I have received in my long career.”

As a waterfowl and wildlife-centric artist, Mr. Wells has won numerous awards and exhibited his work in museums and fine art shows across the nation. He was awarded Ducks Unlimited’s Texas Artist of the Year for three years, won Sculptor of the Year at the DU World Wildlife Exposition, and has several permanent installations at the National and Regional DU Headquarters. Permanent works are also exhibited in the Ducks Unlimited Waterfowling Heritage Center located at Bass Pro in Memphis. Mr. Wells monumental bronze sculpture “Gale Winds and Mallards” stands at the entrance of National Ducks Unlimited Headquarters in Memphis, TN.

Mr. Wells’ exhibition will be located in the Artist Pavilion presented by PNC Bank on Harrison Street, across from the Waterfowl Building. His new waterfowl-themed oil painting, ‘Cans In the Decoys’ will be featured on this year’s Waterfowl Festival poster, signed and limited to only 300 copies.

The Waterfowl Festival features over 75 total artists, including Carvers, Painters, Photographers and Sculptors. Participating artists demonstrate a variety of styles and mediums, showcasing works of art depicting waterfowl and wildlife, as well as landscapes, sporting art and maritime subjects—the rich diversity of nature. Exhibitions will be located in the Waterfowl Building, Artist Pavilion presented by PNC Bank (on Harrison Street), Academy Art Museum, Avalon Theatre, and Eastern Shore Land Conservancy.

The Waterfowl Festival is produced in part with support from the Maryland State Arts Council, generous community sponsors and corporate partners. Advance tickets to the event, including VIP and Premiere Night (Nov. 7) passes, can be purchased online: www.waterfowlfestival.org/festival-tickets. Weekend general admission tickets are discounted now thru Oct. 1 for only $20. Volunteers receive free admission. For more information, or to sign up as a volunteer, contact us at facts@waterfowlfestival.org or call 410.822.4567.

Mr. Wells graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 1968 with a Fine Arts Degree. Upon graduation, he and his wife, Patricia, moved to Houston where he was employed for four years at MD Anderson Hospital as a medical illustrator. Mr. Wells resigned in 1972 and began a lifelong pursuit of his life passion in wildlife art, as a painter and sculptor. He and his wife have two children and four grandchildren. They have owned and maintained Wells Gallery in Salado, TX for the past 26 years.

Mr. Wells has won numerous awards and is a well-regarded artist and writer.  He has written several published articles, as well as a children’s book, The Legend of Catfish & Little Bream (1997), published by Acadian House Publishing in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Website: https://www.ronniewells.com/

Featured Sculpture will be “Cans in the Decoys”

“My first thought after being asked to be the featured artist was the subject matter for each, then suddenly they merged! Why not Canvasbacks for both? My concept for the sculpture appears within the poster design. If one looks closely, you will see the sculpture as a detail within the painting. I can imagine this encounter occurring over and over again, in the 1940s and ’50s. However, not anymore. I doubt anyone would acutally use priceless Ward Brothers Decoys to hunt over today, but it did add some nostalgia.

I have always admired the Ward Brothers and their contribution to the art of decoy carving. I recently collected a 1936 model Canvasback drake, that I have used in both the sculpture and poster. I am no expert on decoys, but I do have an eye for good design. To my notion there has never been a better example of creating a functional working decoy, with the nuance of the species and at the same time producing a classic piece of art. I thought the use of the decoy was a good way to honor the Ward Brothers, as well as the Canvasback, the King of the Ducks!”