Well-Known Pennsylvania Artist Wins The 2005 Maryland Black Bear Conservation Stamp Design Contest

---

LAUREL ― Al Dornisch, a self-taught painter and naturalist, took top honors at the 9th Annual Maryland Black Bear Conservation Stamp Design Contest held recently at the Patuxent Wildlife Art Show.

His winning entry featured a sow and two cubs journeying out of hibernation, pausing in a flower-laden field. His entry was one of 18 submitted by artists representing six different states.

Dornisch, a former resident of Minnesota, has spent the past 67 years developing his art and studying wild creatures and their habitats. Al’s love of painting has taken him all over the world to photograph, study and paint the flora and fauna found in areas as vast as the polar regions to the savannahs of Africa. His work is highly detailed and features a myriad of different species, from elephants and butterflies to rattlesnakes and gold finches to grouse and white-tailed deer.

Dornisch has also won waterfowl and conservation stamp competitions in South Carolina and Minnesota. Wildlife have benefited greatly as he has contributed much of his work to many conservation organizations and groups through the years. Sixty of his finely detailed renderings were used as illustrations in a series of children’s animal books published by Lerner Publications. Dornisch exhibits his work at wildlife art shows across the country.

Proceeds from the sale of the Black Bear Conservation Stamp and other products are used to compensate farmers in Maryland suffering agricultural damage caused by black bears. For more information or to purchase fine Black Bear Conservation Stamp products visit us online at www.dnr.maryland.gov.

When not painting, Dornisch is a noted expert in the field of sintered or powder metallurgy and teaches at Penn State University. He and his wife Carol reside in Ridgway, PA. For prints of his winning entry call him directly at (814) 772-5333 or e-mail him at bigowl@alltel.net.

---

April 18, 2005

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the state agency responsible for providing natural and living resource-related services to citizens and visitors. DNR manages more than 446,000 acres of public lands and 18,000 miles of waterways, along with Maryland's forests, fisheries and wildlife for maximum environmental, economic and quality of life benefits. A national leader in land conservation, DNR-managed parks and natural, historic and cultural resources attract 11 million visitors annually. DNR is the lead agency in Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, the state's number one environmental priority. Learn more at www.dnr.maryland.gov