A childhood fascination with waterfowl and his first trips to an uncle's duck blind inspired artist Ben A. Heinemann to carve his first bird in 1971. Ben carved and painted in those early years for his own pleasure. Maintaining a rig of 75-100 decoys which required painting almost every fall was his first introduction to his decoy career. 

Heinemann entered his first decoy competition in Davenport , Iowa in 1977. This was the only time he would compete as an intermediate carver as the following year he would find himself in the “world class” professional level. Since his bird carving career began Ben has gained international recognition for his detail and accurate renditions of wildfowl carvings. 

Ben studied mortuary science at the Worsham College of Chicago, Illinois and acquired an Honors Bachelor of Science degree in 1975. During this mortuary internship in Decatur , Illinois he was able to spend numerous hours hunting and studying waterfowl from his uncles' duck blind. This period of time attributed to his attraction to decoys and the inauguration of his carving success. 

In 1978 his innovative carving of a Canadian Goose was judged “Best in World” goose competition; beginning a string of five goose “Worlds Championship” First Place titles. In 1990 Ben was awarded Third Place in the Worlds Championship Pairs Wildfowl category with his full size scale carving pair of American Northern Shovelar. Many other awards include “Best of Shows” and numerous achievement recognitions from the Backbay Virginia Carving Competition in Virginia Beach, the East Carol ina Wildfowl Competition in Washington, NC, the North American Wildfowl Carving Competition in Detroit, the Core Sound Decoy Waterfowl Festival in Harker's Island, NC, the California Open Carving Competition in San Diego, and the Davenport Wood Carvers Competition in Davenport, Iowa. 

Work by Ben A. Heinemann can be found in the Core Sound Museum of Wildfowl Art, Harker's Island , North Carolina and many private collections. Back Bay Wildfowl Museum , Virginia Beach, Virginia featured Bens work in 1984. In 1994 Ben was featured by the Herald Sun Newspaper, Durham , NC “Artist of the Year”. A pair of his wood ducks was proudly displayed on the front of the ‘Wildlife in North Carolina ' magazine in 1987 . 

Over the years Ben has taught seminars and work shops and is frequently asked to judge competitions across the country. Although competitions have provided some of the inspiration for Ben's work , his concern is to perpetuate the tradition of waterfowl decoy sculpture as the true American art form. Ben currently resides with his wife Karen in Durham , NC . He has two children; Ben Justin and Katherine Lee.