Randy Conner

Carver | New York

Randy Conner Among Featured Artists at 55th Annual Waterfowl Festival

As a Wildfowl artist, Randy prefers to carve realistic, life-like sculptures.  Randy began carving as a hobby in 1995, and using Tupelo wood and acrylic paint, creates his subjects with precision and a focus on detail.  What began as a hobby quickly grew into much more with entry into competitions and shows.  With the guidance of several mentors and teachers, (Roger Westgate, Al Jordan and Bruce Lepper, to name a few), Randy’s skills have continued to be refined.

Randy has participated and won competitions in several juried, and open shows, including

•   Ward World Wildfowl Carving Championships – Ocean City, MD

•   Artistry in Wood – Dayton, Ohio

•   Lancaster County Woodcarving Show – Millersville, PA

•   Catatonk Valley Woodcarvers Show – Candor, NY

•   Canadian Nationals – Waterloo, Ontario

•    Louisiana Wildfowl Festival

•   Showcase of Woodcarvings – Charlotte, NC

Randy carves wildfowl both in miniature and life-size using a close eye for detail and extensive reference material. He takes great care to add realism and life to each of his pieces, spending many hours both carving and painting the sculpture. His love of nature and wildlife is clearly a key ingredient in all of his creations, and his composition attempts to capture a special moment in time for the subject.

Owning a piece of Randy’s sculpture is sure to give enjoyment to the owner, whether it is a gift to a family member or friend, a special client, or to add to your own collection.

Artist Links

Website

Visitors can experience Randy Conner’s work at the 55th Annual Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland, this November.

Explore more Waterfowl Festival artists here

Featured Works

Paul Rhymer

Sculptor | Maryland

Paul Rhymer Among Featured Artists at 55th Annual Waterfowl Festival

I come from a family of artists and have drawn and painted my entire life. After receiving an associate of arts degree in 1984 in painting and drawing, I worked at the Smithsonian Institution doing taxidermy and model making for twenty-five years and retired in 2010. Having done so much three-dimensional work there, in the late 1990s, my work gradually began to move from painting and drawing into sculpture.

Website

Visitors can experience Al Jordan’s’ work at the 55th Annual Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland, this November.

Explore more Waterfowl Festival artists here

Featured Works

Ray Brown

Painter | California

Ray Brown Among Featured Artists at 55th Annual Waterfowl Festival

Ray has been working as an artist since he graduated from college with a B.S. in visual communications. He worked mostly as an illustrator and graphic designer in and around Baltimore, Maryland where he had lived all his life. Although he enjoyed his work as an artist he was creating work according to the commercial needs at hand. He longed to create the kind of work that would combine his love of nature, wildlife, and the outdoors with his artistic sensibilities and experience.

After a move to California in 2002, Ray has been able to pursue that dream fulltime.

Ray’s art is a reflection of his experiences in the field. Ray says, “Each trip to the wilderness fills my creative font. I use only my own experiences as reference for my work. Being out in the field is the facet of my creative process that fuels me.”

Ray’s preferred medium is simply charcoal on paper. Working with charcoal sticks, pencils and powders and various types of paper is about as bare bones as an artist can get with one’s medium.

Charcoal in its simplicity is a very direct and surprisingly versitile tool of expression, when viewing a finished drawing one is able to see right to the core of the artist’s effort. Using only value (relative lightness and darkness), composition (design), and the illusion of texture to create an image unassisted by color but still managing to convey a sense of place or evoke a certain emotion is a difficult challenge. It is this challenge that inspires Ray’s daily pursuits in his work.

Art is a never-ending struggle to create something from nothing using all of ones ideas, knowledge, and experience. It is the creative process that is the best part for the artist and the results of that process are what the artist is able to share with everyone. – Ray Brown

Highlights: South Eastern Wildlife Expo(SEWE), Charleston SC : Featured Artist 2025 ; Wild West: Wildlife Masters Past and Present at the Steamboat Art Museum, December 1, 2023 – April 13, 2024; Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Masters (juried show) 2013-25; Birds In Art 2010, 2012-2016, 2018-2025 Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum Wausau, WI; Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale (juried auction) 2013-24; Third place The Artist’s Magazine 2010 Art Competition; Published Strokes of Genius 3, 5, 6 The Best of Drawing;

Collection of The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum; The Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach

Artist Links

Website

Visitors can experience Ray Brown’s work at the 55th Annual Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland, this November.

Explore more Waterfowl Festival artists here

Featured Works