Everything is just ducky for Jocelyn Beatty of Mitchell Road, Shenango Township.

Her painting of a pair of canvas back ducks against the background of the Presque Isle Lighthouse was chosen to be the Pennsylvania Waterfowl Management Stamp for 2003 at the Pymatuning Waterfowl Expo last month in Linesville. It is generally referred to as the Pennsylvania duck stamp.

"They called me on the phone just as we were leaving for a wedding," said Mrs. Beatty. "I was thrilled and shocked and speechless, and I'm never speechless. I had said I'd really like to be the first woman to win this. It's been kind of a Pennsylvania boys' club," she said. She is also the first artist from the northwest part of the state to win.

Her pursuit of the elusive waterfowl stamp began seven years ago when she saw the judging at the waterfowl festival, where the stamp painting is selected.

"I saw the paintings for the duck stamp and I felt I could be competitive," said Mrs. Beatty, a watercolor and acrylic painter who has been teaching classes for many years. "I also love ducks and paint a lot of ducks anyhow."

In the past seven years, she has won third, fourth, and fifth place. Her choice of the canvas back ducks and Presque Isle may have had something to do with that.

"We had to choose a waterfowl that migrates on the Atlantic flyway, which follows a migration path from the Great Lakes over Pa.," she said. "The reason I chose the canvas backs are because the male is called the king of the ducks. It's very regal-looking with a white body, black breast and a red head. I also thought: Wouldn't if be fun to do Pennsylvania's lighthouse? A lot of people in the state don't even know we have a lighthouse."

Mrs. Beatty thought the colors of the ducks and the red brick lighthouse would make a good combination.

"I did a lot of research about this. I talked with one of the park rangers (at Presque) who said that the canvas backs come into the bay real early in the spring. I've seen them here in the fall as well," she said. Mrs. Beatty visited the lighthouse and took pictures to help her with her painting.

"The detail was excellent. The painting was beautifully designed and very popular with the audience at the competition as well," said Carl Graybill, director of the state Game Commission's Bureau of Information and Education. "It is a very high quality piece of waterfowl art and continues the high standards of the program."

Since 1983, the state has sold the non-mandatory stamp to duck hunters. Proceeds fund wetland acquisitions, habitat improvements and waterfowl education efforts, according to Graybill. "A lot of people collect the duck stamps," he said, adding that Pennsylvania is one of only a handful of states that has a voluntary purchase duck stamp.

Most states make it mandatory to purchase a state duck stamp along with the federal waterfowl stamp and migratory game bird license to hunt waterfowl. Though the game commission is not pursuing the idea, it could happen in the near future, Graybill said.

In the meantime, Mrs. Beatty will gain state and nationwide recognition for her art, along with a $3,000 prize, 100 artist proofs prints and 200 duck stamps to sell or keep, Graybill said. She will also enter the contest for the federal duck stamp, which will be chosen Oct. 16.

"That's the one they say if you win it, you're an instant millionaire," Mrs. Beatty said. In the meantime, she'll keep working on painting wildlife, including ducks, though she can't enter the state contest next year. Instead, she will be one of the judges at next year's Pymatuning Waterfowl Expo. After that, she plans to enter again. She and her husband Ken will also be traveling to more national art shows.

"I've been painting all my life. It's only really been the last six years that I turned to wildlife because I wanted to add more to my paintings, adding deer to my landscapes, birds to my nature scenes," she said. "It's every artist's dream to be doing this, and I'm living mine."