2/23/2011:
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued a press release on this date in 2009, announcing North Dakota resident Jeffery Hoff as the winner of the 2010 Ohio Wetlands Habitat Stamp Design Competition. Hoff’s artwork, primarily focused on waterfowl, has won numerous awards and honors across the country.
Hoff was born and raised in the Devils Lake area. Although he was more interested in sports than art, Hoff enjoyed drawing, and grew up observing North Dakota’s wide variety of waterfowl and wildlife. He took a single art class in college, but his award-winning acrylic wildlife paintings have primarily been the product of self-education. In 1997, Hoff was persuaded by a friend to enter his first art competition, a Nevada duck stamp contest. Although competing against nearly seventy wildlife artists, Hoff’s painting of two hooded merganser ducks placed fifth overall. Encouraged, Hoff began to focus more on painting. While working at Otter Tail Power Company in Jamestown, Hoff continued to enter various competitions and make a name for himself in the world of wildlife art. In 1999, he was named the North Dakota Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year, and in 2002 he returned to compete once again in the Nevada duck stamp competition, winning first place with his rendition of a pair of cinnamon teal. Prints of his work have been selected as North Dakota Duck’s Unlimited Prints of the Year in 2004, 2005, and 2006, as well as the 2007 Ohio Ducks Unlimited Sponsor print. He won his second stamp contest in 2007 at the Oklahoma Duck Stamp Design competition, and his third in the Ohio Wetlands Habitat Stamp competition.
His work, however, has not been confined to waterfowl; Hoff works with a variety of subject matter, most recently focusing on songbirds. In 2009, his longtime employer, Otter Tail Power Company, commissioned Hoff to create a print in commemoration of the company’s centennial. Hoff’s print depicts two river otters along the banks of the Otter Tail River, and was produced for sale locally. Of the painting, Hoff commented that “the 100th anniversary [was] a milestone for [the] company, so [he] was honored and excited to have the chance to use [his] artistic abilities to create something unique for [the] celebration.”
Hoff is represented by Bev’s Fine Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, although reproductions are sold locally across the state. He currently lives and works in Jamestown.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Sources:
The Jamestown Sun, “Hoff Speaks on Art at Kiwanis,” November 24, 2009.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/home_page/NewsReleases/tabid/18276/EntryId/953/
http://www.jeffhoff.com/
http://www.otpco100.com/EventsSouvenirs/Pages/CommemorativeOttersPrint.aspx