Junior Duck Stamp

A Family of Junior Duck Stamp Competitors
By Aurora Firth

Two state Best of Show winners in one family? Six siblings who have all placed more than once? A family of nine that supports itself by its artwork? Yes, and more than that; let me introduce you to our family.
My parents, Ben and Melanie Firth, and the seven of us - myself, Aurora (20), Barnabas (17), Sarah (15), Silas (12), Josiah (10), Anna (7), and Aspen (3), live on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula just south of the little town of Anchor Point, in a 1900-square-foot house that we've been building out-of-pocket over the past three years. A ten-minute walk from our house takes you to the edge of a bluff overlooking the Anchor River. The town of Homer is about fifteen miles south, on the very tip of the Peninsula, jutting out into Kachemak Bay.
From the first, our parents had intended to homeschool their children, and none of the seven of us have ever attended public school. Mama attends to our academic education, Daddy teaches us art, and some of us take music lessons from a friend.
We moved to Fairbanks, Alaska from Pennsylvania in 1996 and lived there for five years. During our last years in Fairbanks, we came down here in the summers and worked to build the Ben Firth Studio on Mile 161 on the Sterling Highway.
Our studio showcases Daddy's artwork, which includes pencil, pen-and-ink, and watercolor, as well as sculpture in antler, wood, and bronze. Most, though not all, of it is for sale. Also on display and for sale is Mama's etched glassware and our - the children's - crafts and artwork, including our Duck Stamp drawings.
Six years ago, in 2001, Daddy told me about the Junior Duck Stamp competition and asked if I wanted to try entering. I had two weeks before the deadline. I worked hard on "The Way to the Sea", a colored pencil drawing of a Harlequin drake, but I think I was as shocked as anyone when I won Best of Show for the State of Alaska! That was the beginning of it all. The next year, Barnabas, Sarah, Silas, and I entered; in 2003, Josiah began; in 2006, Barnabas decided to stop entering, but Anna began, and my first art student, Emily Coble, began as well. That was also the year in which I had to stop entering, after my graduation from homeschooled high school. This year, Sarah, Silas, Josiah, and Anna, as well as Emily Coble from Homer and Luke and Stacy Martin from Anchor Point, my art students, submitted their entries under Daddy's and my teaching. Emily and Stacy are both 7, and Luke is 11.
Here's how the competition works: the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design program is for public, private, and homeschooled students from kindergarten through twelfth grade. In the schools, a student's entry is regarded as a term paper, encouraging the student to represent what he has learned about waterfowl and their habitat and conservation through art. Each state and U.S. territory has its own competition, in which the entries compete in four divisions: K-3rd grade, 4th-6th grade, 7th-9th grade, and 10th-12th grade. In each division, 16 Honorable Mentions, 3 Third Places, 3 Second Places, and 3 First Places are awarded. The judges then take the 12 First Place winners, and from among them, select the State Best of Show winner. Next, the 50-some Best of Show winners are sent to Washington, D.C., where a panel of judges selects the National Best of Show winner from among them. This piece of art is then printed as a $5 collectors' stamp.
I won Best of Show for the State of Alaska in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2005, and a First Place in 2002. In 2005, my last entry, a pastel-and-colored pencil drawing of a pair of Hooded Mergansers, placed among the Top Ten nationally. Sarah, after having won an Honorable Mention, 2 Third Places, Second Place, and First Place, came through this year as Alaska's Best of Show winner with a pastel-and-colored pencil drawing of a pair of Cinnamon Teals. Her piece also placed among the Top Ten nationally. Barnabas has won an Honorable Mention and 3 Second Places, Silas, 2 Honorable Mentions and 2 First Places; Josiah, Honorable Mention, Third Place, Second Place, and First Place, and Anna, a Second Place. This year, in addition to Sarah's Best of Show, Silas, Josiah, and Anna all won First Places, Emily a Third Place, Luke an Honorable Mention, and Stacy a Second Place. Honors all round!
The Duck Stamp, as we call it among ourselves, has been good for our family in several ways. For one thing, all six of us who have entered have found that our waterfowl identification abilites have mysteriously increased. We look forward to the coming of migratory ducks in spring, and as we drive by the pools at the side of the road, we are generally able to call out,
"Mallard pair to the right!"
"Oh, look, a Barrow's Goldeneye--no, actually it's a Common Goldeneye--look at the shape of the Spot."
"Bufflehead over here!"
Needless to say, it has helped the growth of both our artistic abilities and our interest in art. I've developed a helpful technique for soft pastel backgrounds, and what we do with colored pencils has surprised people. We have learned to more truly appreciate the beauty and design of what God has created in nature as we try to represent it in our work, and the conservation aspect of the program has helped us in learning the importance of being good stewards of His creation.
I could go on and on, but I'll stop now with an invitation to stop and see us if you're ever in our area. Our studio is open mid-May through mid-September, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and it's always open by appointment if you don't come in the summer. You can also visit our website at www.benfirthstudio.com. The ocean and mountain scenery around Anchor Point and Homer is awesome, and the salmon and halibut fishing is world-famous. (Did I mention that there is also great art?) We hope to see you some day!


Silas, Sarah, Aurora, Josiah, and Barnabas Firth with their 2003 Junior Duck Stamp entries 3	Aurora presents then Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton with a print of her 2003 entry in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the national wildlife refuge system.

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Alaska Federal Junior Duck Stamp Competition Our family has been participating in the Junior Duck Stamp competition since 2001. The following pictures are all the children's entries. Following the pictures is an article written by Aurora that was published in the December 2007 issue of Postmasters Gazette which tells the story of our involvement with the Junior Duck Stamp competition in Alaska. We have giclee prints of Aurora's Northern Shovelers and Hooded Mergansers for sale. Some of the original works can be seen in our studio.

Aurora's Entries

Harlequin Duck 2001 Alaska Best of Show 1	Oldsquaw 2002 1st Place Grades 7-9	Northern Shovelers 2003 Alaska Best of Show 3	Barrow's Goldeneyes 2004 Alaska Best of Show 4	Hooded Mergansers 2005 Alaska Best of Show National Top Ten

Barnabas's Entries

Blue-winged Teal 2002 Honorable Mention Grades 4-6	Steller's Eider 2003 2nd Place Grades 7-9	Northern Pintail 2004 2nd Place Grades 7-9	Spectacled Eider 2005 2nd Place Grades 7-9

Sarah's Entries

Mallard 2002 Honorable Mention Grades 4-6	King Eider 2003 3rd Place Grades 4-6	Redhead 2004 3rd Place Grades 4-6	Green-winged Teal 2005 2nd Place Grades 7-9	Northern Pintails 2006 1st Place Grades 7-9

Cinnamon Teal 2007 Alaska Best of Show National Top Ten	American Widgeons 2008 Alaska Best of Show National Top Ten

Silas's Entries

Mallard 2002 Honorable Mention Grades K-3	Ring-necked Duck 2003 1st Place Grades K-3	Cinnamon Teal 2004 Honorable Mention Grades 4-6	Common Merganser 2005 5	Canada Geese 2006 1st Place Grades 4-6

Canvasback 2007 1st Place Grades 7-9	Common Eiders 2008 1st Place Grades 7-9

Josiah's Entries

Mallard 2003 Honorable Mention Grades K-3	Canada Goose 2004 3rd Place Grades K-3	King Eider 2005 2nd Place Grades K-3	Green-winged Teal 2006 1st Place Grades 4-6	Mallards 2007 1st Place Grades 4-6

Ring-necked Duck 2008 1st Place Grades 4-6

Anna's Entries

King Eider 2006 2nd Place Grades K-3	Trumpeter Swan 2007 1st Place Grades K-3	Cinnamon Teal 2008 1st Place Grades K-3

Alaska Federal Junior Duck Stamp Competition