Rich Radigonda

"If people who view my work become more aware of this wonderful
Country of ours, then I feel I have made a difference. My artwork and the
subjects I create are a passion that drives me."
-- Rich Radigonda

Artist Rich Radigonda , a San Francisco native, grew up spending a lot of time on the shores of the San Francisco Bay. He was fascinated with waterfowl, and unbeknownst to his parents, he built rafts to try (unsuccessfully) to get closer to the ducks loafing near Hunter's Point.

At a very early age, Rich was introduced to duck hunting, auto racing, and air shows by his father. These three activities would shape his life. Discovering his ability to draw by age five, Rich drew ducks, race cars, and World War II airplanes. In the late 1950's, Rich served aboard the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga. There, he made many sketches of flight deck action and painted cartoons and nose art on the fighter planes. Once he left the service, Rich wanted to attend art school, but was told to "get a job" by a stern father. Having good mechanical ability, he decided to work in an auto repair shop. Within three years, Rich had opened his own shop, which was successful for many years. He sold the business in 1998 to paint full time.

In the early 1960's, Rich sponsored a race car and performed the associated mechanical work. The car won the 1963 Northern California Championship and held records at three tracks.

By the late 60's, Rich began collecting antique duck decoys and developed an interest in the contemporary decoy carving contests being held on the East Coast. He tried his hand at carving, and his fourth creation won a Blue Ribbon -- and his part-time art career was launched.

Deciding the West Coast needed its own carving show, Rich co-founded the Pacific Flyway Decoy Show with two other men. It was a great success. In fact, the event recently celebrated its 35th anniversary. In the 1970's, Rich began to photograph wildlife, particularly ducks and other water birds. This brought a change to his whole outlook on wildlife. He found more challenge in photographing fast-moving birds than shooting at them. While he still hunts, the days of having to always get a limit are past.

Spending so much time photographing ducks inspired Rich to start painting on canvas. Many paintings followed, and the dream of winning a duck stamp art contest burned deep. After placing many times in the top five in the duck stamp competitions, winning the 2005 California Duck Stamp made the dream come true.

Rich's achievements in art include being named Ducks Unlimited (DU) California Artist of the Year in 1987 and winning the Decoy Carver of the Year Award in 1989. He is the only artist in the nation to accomplish this task.

In the last few years, paintings of World War II aircraft and vintage race car scenes have also been created by Rich. He was honored to do a large painting (8ftx18ft) depicting the Col. Doolittle 1942 Raid on Tokyo that is on permanent display at Travis AFB. Traveling to various vintage aviation and race car get-togethers, he has met many of his boyhood heroes that flew in the war or drove at Indianapolis.

Rich has conducted several wildlife drawing sessions with children. As he draws with them he talks about the wonders of nature around us and encourages them to learn more.

Rich is committed to creating many new works of art in the years to come.

AWARDS:

1987 Ducks Unlimited California Artist of the Year.

1989 Ducks Unlimited Decoy Carver of the Year.

Blue Ribbon winner in 15 National Decoy shows. Two "Best of Shows".

1995 2nd Place Kodak Regional Photo contest.

1995 California Waterfowl Association Life Sponser Artist.

2000 Parradux Label for Duckhorn Vineyards.

2003 California Waterfowl Association Life Sponser Artist.

2005 California Duck Stamp.