Stunning Salmon Artwork a welcome addition to woodcarving show
By Paul Buttner
Our first time underwriting a special fish carving completion at this month’s the Pacific Flyway Decoy Association (PFDA) Wildlife Art Show in Sacramento yielded spectacular results.
Acclaimed artist Bob Berry of El Cajon, was thrilled to be the winner of the Rice Commission’s first-ever fish carving competition. This annual competition will help us amplify how serious we are about exploring opportunities to help the fisheries in the Sacramento Valley.
As we have done now for many years, we also crowned two new winning carvers of ricelands birds. One winner, Jim Burcio of Antioch, we know well because he has won several of our past year’s competitions. This year, he won for his beautiful rendition of a Long-billed Dowitcher—a common shorebird found in California rice fields.
This year, we also congratulate Wade Kelly of Arroyo Grande on his beautiful carving of a Pintail Duck.
We are pleased to continue ongoing support of this wonderful event with artistic roots going back well over 100 years! It is a perfect event for California Rice to remind wildlife art enthusiasts that California rice fields provide excellent wildlife habitat.
Here’s a link to more information on PFDA’s instructional outreach to new carvers, or you can contact Jim Burcio at (925) 754-4978, for more information on this beautiful artistic craft.
