John Eberhardt, artist

John Eberhardt has hunted since he was a kid. “My father was a sportsman, always fishing or hunting somewhere. If Dad was going to go, he had to take us boys with him.”

For the last 25 years, Eberhardt has expressed how he feels about the outdoors through his painting. The artist, whose work has been featured on the cover of twenty-three Cabela outdoor and hunting supply catalogs, is known throughout the Midwest for his lifelike depiction of waterfowl, quail, pheasants, deer, and turkey.

In addition to being featured on the Cabela covers, Eberhardt’s limited edition prints are sold by major conservation groups such as Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever. Occasionally, companies such as Pepsi Cola or Dupont will commission him to do a special work.

It was his grandmother who got John Eberhardt hooked on painting. 1972 was a difficult year for him. He dropped out of his first year of college and later got drafted. He returned from the army in 1974 and decided to continue his welding classes. It was then that his grandmother gave him a set of paints. “I think she did it to keep me out of the bars,” commented Eberhardt. “And it worked, I really fell in love with it.”

While working and going to school, Eberhardt continued to paint in his free time, imitating various artists’ techniques and improving his skills without the benefit of formal instruction. In April 1978, he took some of his work to an art show in Clinton, Iowa and came back $600 richer. “I thought I had gone to heaven,” said Eberhardt. He quit school and his job, and decided that painting was what he wanted to do for a living. He was not sure he could do it, but he wanted to give it a try.

Eberhardt’s first Cabela cover in 1983 caused a bit of a controversy. The store had never received so many letters in response to one of their covers. This one featured a black Labrador with a mallard duck in its mouth. But Cabela didn’t mind the publicity. They knew it was the type of thing that hunters would love.

It was Eberhardt’s daughter, Athea, who inspired him to move from southern Iowa to Johnson County. When Athea moved to Marengo with her mom, Eberhardt wanted to be closer to her. He moved to a farmhouse in rural Iowa City, and then a couple years later, bought a mobile home in North Liberty. That is where he painted. He enjoyed the natural lighting coming in from the many windows.

The nature of Eberhardt’s work has changed over the years. In the 1980’s, he sold most of his works to the major conservation groups in the form of limited edition signed prints. He won several Artist of the Year awards with the Illinois Ducks Unlimited, and he became well known as a waterfowl artist, producing around twenty originals each year.

In the early 1990’s, the print market became saturated, so Eberhardt turned to producing and selling more originals. At the same time, he expanded his subject themes to include turkey and deer, reflecting his change in hunting habits since his father had stopped duck hunting. He also began to create smaller works with flower and bird themes to appeal to the many women at the art shows.

More recently, John Eberhardt has begun painting on turkey feathers. He has discovered that these paintings are immensely popular, partly because of their beauty, and partly because of their affordable price. The large feathers, usually harvested from a bird he has killed during the spring hunting season, are mounted and framed. Before painting the miniature wildlife scene on the feather, Eberhardt lays down an area of white acrylic latex to keep the feather from separating.

From now until October, John Eberhardt will be on the road selling his wildlife art. In October, he will put away the paints and the paintings and head out to the fields to hunt. Eberhardt says he does not consider himself to be a natural born painter, but has spent the last 25 years learning to paint in order to glorify the outdoors that he loves.