India Ratha, a Tech High School student, and her sister Usha Ratha, a South Junior High School student, have artistry in their blood. They both have drawn and painted since they were young with the encouragement of their mother, Natalie Ratha, a local artist. For the last nine years, both girls have brought their artwork to life in the form of waterfowl in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s National Junior Duck Stamp Contest. This year, both took first place.
“Since they were in kindergarten,” explains Natalie, “they’ve been doing it [contest] every year. It’s something they look forward to.”
Natalie stumbled across the opportunity for the duck stamp competition while visiting Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, a park they visit often. The family is not an outdoor sports family, but they love nature and camping. She thought it would be something fun for her daughters to try.
The contest is broken into age groups. The first place of each group is submitted for “Best in Show.” Each year, India and Usha choose from a list of water fowl to draw or paint. They research the birds’ features, looks, and natural habitats, and also provide a list of the resources along with their submission. The judges are looking for original artwork.
“Each year, they [Department of Natural Resources in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife] move the awards [ceremony] around the state,” shares Natalie. “The director of the program for Minnesota has said there are about 400 [submissions] each year.”
The girls really put their creativity and heart into their work.
“My mom is an artist,” says India. “She’s taught me a lot of stuff about how to make our art and what techniques to use with acrylic or whatever art medium we are using.”
Usha adds, “I got interested in art because of my mom. I just like to do art when I’m not doing anything.”
The prizes for winning one of the top three positions are new art supplies, so the girls continue to use their prize winnings for the next year’s competition.
This year’s wood duck is India’s favorite while Usha’s King Eider is her favorite.
“I really liked doing the head because of all the colors and details of the feathers,” shares Usha.
After both sisters’ artwork took first place in their respective categories, their pieces moved on to “Best in Show.”
“I felt a lot more accomplished this year compared to other years,” says India. “When I looked at the awards that were handed out in my age group, it seemed like there was only first, second and third where in other years, they’d hand out multiple firsts, seconds and thirds. So this year, it feels more special than other years.”
“I was happy [to win first place],” smiles Usha. “I always like to achieve something, and every time you win, you get to have new art supplies. That just motivates me to keep going and trying.”
Usha wants to continue on with artwork as she gets older. India enjoys art, but her ambition is to become a National Geographic photographer simply “because you get to go everywhere and take pictures of wildlife.”
Though, neither sister took Best in Show this year, it is exciting to know that one of these years, an avid sportsman who purchases a duck stamp might just find they’ve purchased artwork from one of the Ratha sisters.
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