Dave Orrick: At 83, wildlife artist David Maass still painting ? and ...

David Maass was named Ducks Unlimited's artist of the year for 2013, a record fourth time for the Minnesota wildlife artist. Maass, 83, is pictured with his son's dog, Casco, on the steps of his cabin studio in Orono. (Courtesy David Maas/Ducks Unlimited)

From an azure sky, the mallards -- revealing their full plumage with cupped wings -- descend erratically through dun cypress trunks to water reflecting the blue above.

It's not the image duck hunters in Minnesota ever see, but, like all great works in the genre, the painting "Pitching into Cypress" by Minnesota wildlife artist David Maass would raise the heartbeat of any duck hunter.

"I've been hunting down there for 30 years, and it's those bluebird days we look for," Maass said, referring to the Arkansas bottomlands where the scene occurred. "When you hunt down there in the trees, those blue skies can really let you see the birds."

A Memphis, Tenn., resident who owned the spot commissioned him to paint the work; "I just happened to submit it to Ducks Unlimited," Maass said.

DU this week announced "Pitching into Cypress" earned Maass the organization's 2013 Artist of the Year Award. That's the fourth time Maass has won, a record.

But the 83-year-old artist, whose list of wildlife art awards is too long for this space, downplays awards.

"I think you live long enough, you win most of them," said Maass, whose prized paintings have fetched as much as $85,000. "I'm not trying to set any records. I don't enter the federal (duck stamp competition) anymore. I paint because I love the work, and I just feel if I retired I'd end up sitting in a rocking chair, maybe smoking a pipe."

That might not sound too bad to most, but for Maass, who works out of his

log cabin studio in Orono (and at waterfowl spots everywhere), sitting in a rocking chair would not only mean not painting; you don't shoot many ducks from a porch rocker.

"I want to keep painting, and I want to keep hunting as long as I can," he said.

A native of Rochester, Minn., Maass grew up duck hunting the Weaver Bottoms along the Mississippi River under the guidance of his father. "My father taught me to hunt, and for some reason I always loved to draw."

During his first career designing class rings for Josten's, Maass began moonlighting as a wildlife artist and soon was a successful one. "In the early '60s, I left to paint full time, and I had enough of a business already developed that it really wasn't a gamble, fortunately. And I've painted ever since."

Dave Orrick can be reached at 651-228-5512. Follow him at twitter.com/OutdoorsNow.

Source: http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_22124307/dave-orrick-at-83-wildlife-artist-david-maass?source=rss

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