Two accomplished artists have again won top honors in Delaware’s Waterfowl Stamp and Trout Stamp art contests. The Best in Show in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) contests went to a painting of a wood duck in bottomland swamp by Richard Clifton of Milford, DE which will grace the 2023/24 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp, and a brown trout painted by Jeffrey Klinefelter of Etna Green, IN to be featured on the 2023 Delaware Trout Stamp.
The annual stamp art competition drew 13 entries for the 2023/24 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp and 12 entries for the 2023 Trout Stamp. The Waterfowl Stamp contest specified that submitted artwork must include the motif of a wood duck in bottomland swamp. Trout Stamp artwork entries could depict a rainbow, brown or brook trout.
As the 2023/24 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp winner, Clifton receives a $2,500 cash prize and 150 artist’s proofs of the limited edition print series of his first-place entry. Clifton, who resides on an historic family farm in the Milford area near Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, is an avid hunter and self-taught wildlife artist who works in acrylics, with waterfowl among his favorite subjects.
As the 2023 Delaware Trout Stamp winner, Klinefelter receives a $250 cash prize and retains the rights to reproduce and sell prints of the stamp artwork. Klinefelter, a graduate of Indiana University’s Herron School of Art, has painted professionally for more than 20 years, and has won numerous stamp art contests – including three Delaware Waterfowl Stamp Art contests and seven Delaware Trout Stamp Art contests. Klinefelter also received an honorable mention in the 2023 state trout stamp contest for his painting of a brown and rainbow trout, and an honorable mention in the 2023/24 waterfowl stamp contest.
Also honored by DNREC in the Delaware Trout Stamp division were Dennis Arp of Box Elder, SD (second place) for rainbow trout and Tory Farris of Dover-Foxcroft, ME (third place) for brown trout. Also tabbing an honorable mention was David Weaver of Gettysburg, PA for a brook trout.
Artwork in each contest was judged by a different set of five judges, with each judge separately evaluating and scoring the respective contest artwork in person. The winning 2023/24 Delaware Waterfowl Stamp will be available for purchase July 1, 2023, and the winning 2023 Delaware Trout Stamp will be available for purchase January 1, 2023.
Delaware began requiring trout stamps for anglers in the 1950s, and a Delaware Trout Stamp and a general fishing license are required for most anglers to fish in designated trout waters during certain seasons. Funds from the sale of the stamps are used to purchase trout to stock in select streams in northern New Castle County and in two downstate ponds.
Delaware hunting and fishing licenses along with state waterfowl and trout stamps are sold online through the DNREC e-permitting system and by license agents statewide. Agents who sell hunting licenses also sell state waterfowl stamps that are required in addition to a license for hunting ducks and geese in Delaware. Agents who sell fishing licenses also sell trout stamps required in addition to a license to fish for trout in Delaware. Learn more about the DNREC Trout Stamp contest can be found at de.gov/troutstamp.
