Ducks Unlimited International Artist of the Year

By Gary Koehler, Senior Writer
Sweet Home, Alabama

Dennis Minor can't remember when there wasn't a dog underfoot. Setters, pointers, and retrievers. They have all been there at one time or another. Companions, confidants, hunting partners.

That has been one of life's blessings for this Alabama native. A proud outdoor sporting heritage runs deep throughout Dixie. And Minor is quick to bring focus to why he paints what he does.

"One of my biggest inspirations was spending my life in Alabama," Minor says. "I grew up in a family of bird hunters. We always had bird dogs. Being outdoors is something I really love. Always have.

"Almost all of my paintings are set in Alabama," Minor adds. "Here, hunting is a social occasion, a gathering of friends, camaraderie. That's what interests me. That's what I enjoy most. Dogs have always been part of that."

So it is no wonder Minor features a pair of strapping Labrador retrievers in his painting "Waiting at Crow Creek," which earned him the title of Ducks Unlimited 2000 International Artist of the Year. Prints will be available this year only at DU membership banquets.

"I wanted to convey the feeling of early morning, with the guy rounding up his gear, and the dogs watching the door for him to come back in," Minor says. "I've noticed that dogs will do that. They want to make sure they are part of what's going on. In fact, I can't even say the word hunt around my dog without her getting excited. If I go skeet shooting, I have to hide the gun when I go out."

"Dogs are an integral part of it-their instinctive qualities. They know what their job is. They know their function. Dogs are as much a part of hunting as your shotgun or the game," Minor adds.

Shotguns, in fact, also played a role in launching Minor's career as a full-time artist.

"I owned an Orvis dealership in Alabama," Minor says. "Another person in the store had a gun business. I had a room in the store and painted some there. And I kind of took a cue from the early Dutch and Flemish painters, who simply started by painting things around them. Instead of chasing the market, they painted what they wanted to paint.

"I started painting great old guns. The first two were a Parker 12 gauge and a Browning Sweet 16. They were sporting still lifes. The Parker print had a pintail, shells, and an old decoy. The Sweet 16 featured quail as the wild game. From there, I received an invitation to exhibit in Charleston at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. That's where I first received national DU exposure."

Minor left Orvis in 1978 to concentrate on his art. This year marks the third time that he has been included in DU's national art package. His previous works include the popular "Season of '37" and "Hoppe's No. 9."

"I think still life got me noticed, but I have done a wide variety of things with my art," Minor said. "I've done a tremendous amount of dog paintings. Many were commissioned by plantation owners. I'm proud to be a southern artist. I do a lot of paintings of dogs in the field, quail hunting, that sort of thing."

Also an ardent fly-fisherman, Minor on occasion provides lessons, or tune-ups, for friends and customers who used to frequent his Orvis shop. Seminars were once part of his business.

"Funny thing, how I got started trout fishing," Minor says. "I always enjoyed fly-fishing for panfish and bass. But back in the 1970s a group of friends and I went camping out in Colorado. Being young and single, we really didn't think much about food. About the third day, we were running low on provisions.

"There were some older guys near us who had caught some trout. They built a fire, were making coffee, and pan-frying the trout and potatoes. Nothing ever smelled that good to me. I said then and there that I had to learn how to catch trout."