Maryland-based wildlife sculptor Walter Matia, born in 1953, got an early start at paying attention to creatures that soar, crawl or hide in the grass. He was raised near a wooded park in a Cleveland suburb and says his boyhood days were filled with "bird-watching, botanizing, log flipping and collecting." As an avid duck hunter, he has experienced "a lifetime of icy mornings, blistered feet, mosquitoes, torrid afternoons, chapped hands, wonderful dinners and the companionship of great and knowledgeable friends"all of which he eventually translated into his art.

Matia's early artistic leanings were encouraged by his parents and teachers. Art museums were a familiar part of life. From high school until a year or ...