By Brenda Valentine
First Lady of Hunting®
August, 2008

Over the years I can’t count the number of personal appearances, seminars, and dinner speeches I’ve made but never have I been as honored and surprised as recently during the Ozark Safari Club International Chapter banquet. I was contracted months in advance by Pat Benson, banquet chairperson, to be the dinner speaker at the annual Springfield, Missouri, event. As always, whenever I attend a conservation fundraiser, I really enjoy looking over the auction items for the unique and unusual things found nowhere else.

This close-up photo shows the intricate detailing of Pam Kelley's artwork.

The first auction item was a large framed print of a wild turkey fan with a picture I recognized hand painted on it. Wildlife artist Pamela Kelley’s work is always recognizable but this was a masterpiece as far as I was concerned. The photo was one I’d shared with Pam the year before upon returning from a successful wilderness moose hunt.

This large, matted and framed "no. 1" print of Pam Kelley's “Once in a Lifetime” turkey fan paintings was presented to Brenda Valentine at the Ozark Safari Club International Chapter banquet. The painting features Brenda leading a pack horse through the mountains laden with her kill.

Actually, the story began several years ago at an NWTF banquet where Pam and her husband, Danny, were seated at my table. I was discussing an upcoming Canadian moose hunt and in the conversation discovered that hunting moose was a secret dream of Pam’s. Note, this Arkansas lady had never flown on an airplane, wilderness camped, or hunted anything but whitetails on her home farm. Before the evening was over I’d invited Pam to join me on what promised to be her “Once in a Lifetime” trip and Danny had insisted she go. From the initial boarding of the plane in Memphis to floating a secluded river for a week in a 24 ft. cedar canoe, sleeping in a tent with the dancing Northern Lights for entertainment and a chorus of wolf howls for music, to successfully shooting her bull moose, this was truly a trip of many firsts. Pam relayed to me four events that prominently stood out in her life: the day she married Danny, when her two children were born, when she was baptized, and her Canadian moose adventure.

Immediately after my speech and right before the auction was to begin, Pam and Pat took the stage and asked me to return for a special presentation. I was clueless about what was coming next. After a few embarrassingly complimentary comments they whisked the satin covering from a large easel at the back of the stage and before me was the huge matted and framed original of the print in the auction. I was speechless, which doesn’t happen often. Pam was presenting me with No. 1 of 1,000 of the “Once in a Lifetime” turkey fan paintings she was commissioned by SCI to produce for their banquets and catalog. Of course the painting held a special meaning to me but I also saw it as a benchmark of the times for all women hunters since I can’t recall seeing a wilderness painting realistically featuring a woman hunter. The detail that Pam is able to express on the uneven surface of a wild turkey feather is astounding. From the snowcapped mountain background with vibrant colors of fir and aspen trees to the conformation of the horses and splashing of the rushing stream, she expertly captured the atmosphere and feel of the moment.

“Once In a Lifetime” prints are available through S.C.I. or can be bought directly from Pam Kelley at Leatherwoodarts@yahoo.com.