The 2019 Birds in Art Touring exhibition…November 30, 2018 Greetings,
From the total one hundred and twenty works of avian art in the 2018 Birds in Art exhibition the Woodson Art Museum’s curatorial staff selected fifty-nine works to tour the country next year as part of the 2019 Birds in Art Touring exhibition. Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, from January 25 to March 31, 2019. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Best regards, Timothy
Harvard University lecture…October 1, 2018 Greetings, once more, I am extremely honored to announce that I have been invited to give a lecture at Harvard University on October 26, 2018, taken from my ongoing research into the traditional drawing materials and techniques of the old master artists. The topic and title of this lecture will be, “The nature and evolution of traditional metalpoint grounds in 4th to 17th century old master drawings”. Between the 4th to 17th centuries, artists drew with pointed metallic styluses that were cast from non-ferrous metals including gold, silver, bronze, copper, and others on a drawing surface that they prepared with extremely fine abrasive materials, known as a metalpoint ground. As the drawing stylus traversed the abrasive particles of the ground, minute pieces of metal were shorn from the stylus and retained on the surface as the marks and lines of the drawing. Thus, for instance, the marks and lines of a drawing done with a pure gold stylus would consist of pure gold. Commonly the focus of interest in this traditional drawing technique was on the type of metal in the drawing stylus and too often did not sufficiently address the unsung hero, the nature and contribution of the important materials of the metalpoint ground that enabled this complex traditional drawing medium. The lecture will cover the composition of the traditional metalpoint ground and the changes that occurred to its various components over centuries as this drawing medium matured. The properties of the important components of the metalpoint ground directly related to the types of metal styluses that could be used with them, the light-to-dark tonal values that could be obtained by the metal stylus, and the durability of the stylus marks. Included in the lecture will be numerous historic references documenting the materials and techniques historically used, images of extant old master metalpoint drawings, as well as compositional analyses and field emission scanning electronic microscopic images to illustrate how the marks made with traditionally-used metallic styluses appear in relation to the various components in traditional metalpoint grounds. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States and was established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was named after the College’s first benefactor, the young minister John Harvard of Charlestown, who upon his death in 1638 left his library and half his estate to the institution. The University has grown from nine students with a single instructor to an enrollment of more than 20,000 degree candidates including undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. The internationally-renowned Harvard Art Museums—the Fogg Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum—have been dedicated to advancing and supporting learning at Harvard University, in the local community, and around the world. The museums have played a leading role in the development of art history, conservation, conservation science, and in the evolution of the art museum as an institution. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Best regards, Timothy
Woodson Art Museum acquisition…September 12, 2018 Greetings, once more, I just returned from the Birds in Art exhibition at the Woodson Art Museum, with just two days to organize and pack my gear before heading up to Jackson Hole for the Western Visions exhibition at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, when I received some wonderfully important news. I was contacted by Jane Weinke the Curator of Collections of the Woodson Art Museum who informed me that the Museum’s Collections Committee had just met and they would like to acquire my painting, Goose Down, from the Birds in Art exhibition for their permanent collection. Jane further commented that the Collection Committee had “…overwhelmingly loved the painting.” This acquisition is quite an honor for me as the Woodson Art Museum was a 2017 National Medal winner by the Institute of Museum and Library Services due to their significant and exceptional contributions to their community. The outstanding collection of the Museum was built based on the belief in the need “to cultivate a love for beauty in art and nature.” Their collection focuses on art inspired by nature, primarily birds, and has grown to more than 14,000 objects. There is an image of my painting, Goose Down, on the first page of my website at the link below. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Best regards, Timothy
The National Museum of Wildlife Art’s 31st Annual Western Visions…August 21, 2018 Greetings, once more, I am pleased to announce that my next exhibition will be the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s prestigious 31st Annual Western Visions. Western Visions is the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s largest and longest running exhibition and features artworks from leading national and international wildlife artists. More than 200 new paintings, sculptures, and sketches will be on display and available for purchase during the 31st Annual Western Visions. One of my entries in this year’s Western Visions exhibition is my painting, Grand migration (oil on Belgian linen, 32 x 32 inches).This painting is part of a series of oil paintings and drawings that I began in 2010 depicting the majestic Grand Teton, the tallest peak in the Teton Mountain Range in Western Wyoming. My project was inspired by a series of woodblock prints began in 1826 by the Japanese printmaker Katsushika Hokusai, in which he depicted Mount Fuji from a variety of locations and in different seasons. Thus far, I have completed a total of 10 oil paintings and compositional drawings in my still-growing series of the Grand Teton, each one featuring the Mountain from different locations and often with various charismatic megafauna of the region interacting with it. To work on this series, I return to the Tetons each year to hike my gear up to different locations in the high country surrounding theGrand Teton to do the necessary field studies from which to work in the studio. While some of the artworks from this series are now in private collections, I am honored that four of them have been acquired by prestigious museums including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Harvard University Art Museums, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Grand migration is the largest painting I have completed thus far in this series and it depicts the snow-capped Grand Teton in the warm early glow of a cold fall morning with several sandhill cranes flying across its face as they migrate south to winter in various locations along the Rio Grande Valley in my home state of New Mexico. Additionally, in this exhibition I will have a drawing entitled, Three head studies of sandhill cranes, which was done in the historic and rare drawing materials of natural black chalk, natural yellow chalk, and natural white chalk. Images of this painting and drawing will not be on my website until the next update, which won’t be until after the exhibition. However, if you wish to see them sooner I would be happy to send them to you. The exhibition will hang at the National Museum of Wildlife Art from September 8th to October 7th, 2018. As part of the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s 31st annual Western Visions, collectors and patrons have an opportunity to view the art, place bids, and mingle with artists on Thursday, September 13, 2018 from 6-9 pm before the big sale. On Friday, September 14, 2018 from 5-8 pm there will be special events, which will include the final opportunity to place bids prior to the drawing that evening that determines who is going home with a beautiful new work of art. The National Museum of Wildlife Art is located at 2820 Rungius Road in Jackson, WY 83001 More information can be had by calling the Museum at (307) 733-5771, or online at their website at: https://www.wildlifeart.org/western-visions The National Museum of Wildlife Art was founded in 1987 and has more than 5,000 works of art representing wild animals from around the world. The Museum’s unsurpassed permanent collection chronicles much of the history of wildlife in art from 2500 B.C. to the present. Built into a hillside overlooking the National Elk Refuge, the Museum received the designation “National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States” by order of Congress in 2008. If you have any questions, comments, or if you would like to see the artwork I will have in this exhibition, I’d love to hear from you. Best regards, Timothy
The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s 43rd annual Birds in Art exhibition…August 3, 2018 Greetings once again, I am pleased to announce that l have been invited to be in the internationally acclaimed 43rd annual Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. The Museum’s staff describes the success of their vision as, “Talented artists from throughout the world push standards ever higher by continually striving to be among those selected for the internationally renowned Birds in Art exhibition.” Additionally, during the exhibition I have been asked to present and lead a discussion on the natural chalks, which were traditional drawing materials used by old master artists including da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and many others. This is a topic to which I have dedicated four decades to locating, researching their use, publishing my findings, and using these unique and rare drawing materials to create my own field studies and preparatory drawings. Selected for this year’s Birds in Art exhibition was my painting, Goose down (oil on Belgian linen, 18 x 24 inches), which was created in early 2018 from my winter field studies along the Rio Grande Valley. Every year thousands of snow geese migrate from their summer breeding grounds in northern Alaska and Canada to winter along the Rio Grande Valley in my home state of New Mexico. During one of my trips to study them this winter the nighttime temperatures had dropped to well-below freezing. I arrived before sunrise to see the pre-dawn glow and encountered thousands of snow geese sleeping on a thin sheet of ice that had formed during the night. Their bills were buried in the warm downy feathers along their back and their legs and feet were raised up off the ice and tucked under their down on each side of their bellies. I was extremely impressed with the insulating ability of their goose down and soon found myself wishing that I had some to keep me warm in this bone-chilling cold. An image of this painting can be viewed on my website at: Since 1976, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum has organized Birds in Art annually as their flagship exhibition to present the very best artistic interpretations of birds and their related subject matter. Three simple words – birds in art – took on a life of their own when they became a prestigious Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum exhibition title. Over the years, Birds in Art has grown into what is recognized around the world as the exhibition that sets the standard internationally for avian art. The 43rd annual Birds in Art exhibition opens with a special preview for Museum members and VIPs with a reception for exhibiting artists on Friday, September 7, 2018. The public opening of Birds in Art is on September 8, 2018 and will provide varied opportunities to interact with more than sixty Birds in Art artists visiting from throughout the world. The exhibition will continue at the Museum through November 25, 2018. The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum is located at 700 N. 12th Street in Wausau, Wisconsin, and their phone is: 715-845-7010. More information can be found at the Museum’s website at: https://www.lywam.org/birds-in-art If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Best regards, Timothy
National Museum of Wildlife Art's 30 Wonders / 30 Years: A History of the Museum in 30 Works…April 23, 2018. Greetings, once more,
I was thrilled to learn that one of my oil paintings, Room with a View, was included in the current exhibition hanging at the Museum entitled, 30 Wonders / 30 Years: A History of the Museum in 30 Works, which runs through May 9th 2018. This exhibition consists of 30 curated works of art representing the diversity of the Museum’s collection in terms of depth and breadth and uncovers the amazing stories behind them. The exhibition traces the Museum’s 30 year history to its present status honored by US Congressional Proclamation as the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States in its permanent facility overlooking the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I am deeply honored to be included in this exhibition, which includes art works by many prestigious artists including Carl Rungius (American, b. Germany, 1869 – 1959), Bruno Liljefors (Swedish, 1860 - 1939), Guido Righetti (Italian, 1875 – 1958), and more, each selected to represent the quality and range of the Museum’s permanent collection. If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. Best regards, Timothy
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The Woodson Art Museum’s internationally prestigious 2018 Birds in Art exhibition closed on November 25, 2018. It was estimated than more than 16,000 visitors viewed the exhibition during its eleven weeks at the Woodson Art Museum and it was a memorable experience for all involved. 
I just returned from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I was invited to attend a reception hosted by the Board of Trustees and Administrative Officials of the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.