About the Artist
Painting Forever Wild!
I paint what is wild. It might be a moss covered glacial erratic deep in a tangled old growth Adirondack forest. Or the expansive view from a ridge top trail in Glacier National Park. These are the places that move me and so they become the subject matter of my paintings. They don't have to be identified as true "wilderness" - they just need to have some of the qualities of wilderness - like very little evidence of humanity. Places where nature is dominant, not civilization. I can find "wild" places in my back yard woods and I only paint what I personally experience.
Growing up in Wisconsin, I loved being outdoors as a child. When in college, my family moved to Kentucky and I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Western Kentucky University. I taught high school art in northern New York for 31 years - but I always painted when I could - and spent time outdoors. When I retired, I moved to Saranac Lake, the heart of the Adirondacks and a thriving arts community, and I paint full time.
Comfortable with both oils and watercolors, I use whatever medium seems appropriate for what I want to paint. Working outdoors, 'en plein air' has become my passion. It gives me a chance to totally experience a specific place through all my senses. I work in my home studio when weather prevents outdoor work.
I was a member of the Adirondack Artists Guild, a co-op gallery in Saranac Lake for 23 years, but decided to retire at the end of 2025 - making room for new, young artists! My paintings can be found at the Downtown Artist Cellar in Malone, Tupper Arts in Tupper Lake, and in the summer, at the Corscaden Barn Gallery in Keene Valley. I also enter local, regional and national juried shows and participate in a number of Plein Air Festivals. Visitors are most welcome to come to my home/studio in Saranac Lake, but please contact me first to arrange for an appointment.
Enjoy this biographical essay by James Lancel McElhinney. Traveling artist Carol Douglas did a blog post about my work, and another.
