It all started with a duck. Mike Helsabeck, formerly a musician and broadcaster, was talking to a friend who had decided his state license plate was lacking in waterfowl. Helsabeck, who had never picked up a paintbrush, volunteered to render the bird. "The rest is history," he says. Helsabeck is a native of High Point and currently resides in Lexington. His paintings (you can see them on his website) still prominently feature ducks. Ducks in front of lighthouses, near palm trees and slung over the shoulders of hunters. "It kind of happened by accident," Helsabeck says of his career. "I never intended to be an artist and I still don't know if I am one." As a student at Appalachian State University, Helsabeck gravitated toward studying music before abandoning that dream for a safer career in radio. He kept on as a drummer part-time throughout the 1990s when he played with some of the biggest names in country music. He didn't pick up a paintbrush until that fateful day three years ago. Since then he's been selected NC Ducks Unlimited's Artist of the Year two years running and chosen to paint the Greensboro Merchants Association's 100th anniversary painting. His work graces a handful of Childress Vineyard's wine labels, and he recently finalized a deal to design the labels for Weathervane Vineyards in Davidson County. These days Helsabeck keeps a studio at the Shoppes at Childress Vineyards - owned by Richard Childress of NASCAR fame - and paints full-time. He's left the radio world where he worked for more than two decades. The artist is updating his website to simplify the ordering process. Curious duck-lovers can browse his work at mikehelsabeck.com or at Childress Vineyards. - Amy Kingsley