On the hunt for glory
Win or lose, Peshtigo artist always draws
By VIKKI ORTIZ vortiz
Posted: Nov. 21, 2004 |
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Peshtigo - While other people scurry
around this week peeling potatoes, stirring cranberry sauce and
baking Thanksgiving pies, John H. Nemec Jr. will sit in the dark
gray studio of his home to begin his November tradition. |
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He draws turkeys. |
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Every year, Nemec enters a drawing
in the state Department of Natural Resources' Turkey Stamp Design
Contest. He spends hours finding the perfect turkey photograph
to work from, then hours more detailing each feather with colored
pencils. |
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But unfortunately for Nemec, there's
one more part of his turkey contest-entering routine. |
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He never wins. |
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"It's rough," says Nemec,
30, whose turkey drawings have made it to the top three in recent
years but have never won the coveted first prize: a personalized
plaque and 10 free copies of its reproduction. |
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Nemec has had similar bad luck in
the DNR's water fowl, trout and pheasant stamp contests; he has
entered at least one of them for almost a decade. In all those
contests, his drawings have placed in the top three a whopping
21 times. |
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"The first time I got first
runner-up, it was the coolest thing. The second time, it was
still pretty exciting. But after that, it's like, 'oh,' and I
just go back to what I'm doing," says Nemec, a Bunyanesque
man with a dark brown beard and gentle eyes. |
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Nemec has dreamed of being a professional
artist since he was a young boy growing up in the northeastern
woods of Amberg. While on fishing trips with his uncle, he was
inspired by the deer, fish and birds. He went on to study all
types of art at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, but it's the
wildlife drawings he still loves best. |
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Those who are close to Nemec probably
have a wildlife scene hanging in their home. His garage door
is covered with a wooded scene at sunset. And the town of Wausaukee
hosts the biggest art project he was ever commissioned to do:
a 100-foot mural with eight wildlife scenes. |
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"I never wanted to be anything
else but an artist," says Nemec, who sells some work by
word of mouth but took a job doing construction at a lumber yard
to help pay the bills. |
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Nemec began entering the DNR stamp
design contests after a high school art teacher told him it would
be a great way to have his work noticed. Since then, Nemec has
graduated from college, married and recently had his first son. |
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He's still never won. |
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"Every picture he does, I say,
'he's got to win, he's got to win,' " says his wife, Kelly
Nemec. "I get just as upset as he does when he doesn't." |
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Andrea Mezera, contest coordinator
for the DNR's bureau of wildlife, says there are actually a few
people like Nemec whose names turn up on entries each year. About
18 artists from across the state enter the turkey stamp competition
annually. The entries, which are accepted from Nov. 1 through
Dec. 20, are judged by members of the National Wild Turkey Federation
based on anatomical correctness and proper habitat setting, among
other criteria. |
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Mezera would love to award each
artist because proceeds from the stamp - sold to turkey hunters
for $5.25 when they purchase licenses - go toward restoring wildlife.
But only one artist can get the winning phone call, she says.
The rest receive their certificate in the mail. |
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By now, one wall of Nemec's art
studio is dedicated to the framed first runner-up, second- and
third-place certificates. Around his chair, colored pencil shavings
are stuck in the carpet. Glancing over at his 3-week-old son,
Nemec says he is more determined than ever to win the contest.
"I just want him to be proud of me." |
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Design Contest
The 30-year-old Nemec, who sells
his wildlife works mostly by word of mouth, began entering the
Department of Natural Resources' annual stamp design contests
after a nudge from his high school art teacher.
John H. Nemec Jr. of Peshtigo
has always been surrounded by nature's animals, and it reflects
in his colored pencil drawings that he enters in water fowl,
trout and pheasant stamp contests held by Wisconsin's DNR.
Each year, John H. Nemec Jr.
of Peshtigo enters the Department of Natural Resources' Turkey
Stamp Design Contest. So far, he's come close but hasn't won.
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