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THE
ARTIST |
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Wade
Butler has been painting Texas wildlife and landscapes for over 20
years. But his art career did not
begin until he was almost forty years old after fifteen years as a fisheries
biologist for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “I quit
my job cold turkey back in 1984 with no prior art training or
experience. My wife was going back to
work as a teacher after laying out a few years and with two daughters ,nine
and four years old, we thought one of us should be at home for them. So she let me start a new career if I would
also serve as “Mr. Mom” when they came home after school.” |
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Now, over
two decades later, Wade Butler has made his mark in the sporting and wildlife
art world. He has been an exhibitor in
some of the most prestigious wildlife art shows in the United States
including the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, South Carolina,
the Ducks Unlimited Wildlife Show in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Oklahoma
Wildlife Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wade
Butler produces work in water mixable oils, gouache, graphite pencil and
bronze. His work appears regularly on
the covers of Texas Outdoors Journal magazine and Ducks Unlimited Fine Art
T-Shirts nationally. It is also seen
frequently at Texas Coastal Conservation Association banquets and auctions
where his saltwater fishing and sporting scenes are sought by collectors. His original paintings and prints are used
by Ducks Unlimited, Coastal Conservation Association, Quail Unlimited,
National Elk Foundation and many charity organizations in fund raising
efforts. He was the Texas Ducks
Unlimited Artist of the Year in 1998-1999 and the Sponsor Print Artist in
1995-96 and again in 2005-06. An
extensive collection of his original paintings adorn the walls of Kerr McGee
Oil Company corporate headquarters in Oklahoma City. Butler signed prints are also carried by
some of the largest sporting chain stores in the nation such as Cabela’s,
Sportsmen’s Warehouse and Academy Outdoors. Butler works from his studio in the Texas hill
country near San Marcos and attends showings each year in Texas and in
surrounding states. He is represented
by a number of galleries in Texas including The Gallery of Rockport in
Rockport, Texas. |
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Texas
Ducks Unlimited 1995-1996 Sponsor
Print Artist |
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Texas
Ducks Unlimited 2005-2006 Sponsor
Print Artist |
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Texas
Ducks Unlimited 1998-1999 Artist
of the Year |