Wildlife Calendar Artists

Tim Donovan

Wildlife and the outdoors have always been Tim’s love and recreating these images is his passion. Growing up in Maryland Tim spent his summers on the shores of Solomon’s Island by the Chesapeake Bay. As a young boy he experienced a wide diversity of wildlife from otters to ospreys that would both capture his spirit and direct his path.

At the age of twenty Tim started sculpting out of wood and in his first competition won a first place and best of show.

Tim did not seriously pursue painting until the age of thirty. Being self-taught he wanted more education, so he enrolled in college majoring in both art and biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio to be a medical illustrator. After college he apprenticed with artist Matt Zoll a traditional realist. Here he learned how to grind his own pigments and make his own mediums and oils. The two years spent with Matt dramatically changed Tim’s work.

Over the last several years his attention has been focused on using his art to support organizations for the preservation of wildlife and their habitat. He has donated his time and art to support various conservation organizations including Living with Wolves, Ducks Unlimited, Vital Ground and The Timber Wolf Alliance just to name a few.

In 1999 Tim was awarded the coveted Conservation Service Award, by Ducks Unlimited for his outstanding contributions for the preservation of North American Waterfowl. In 2003 he completed the illustration of the book, “Beyond Little Red Riding Hood” for the Timber Wolf Alliance. In 2006 Tim started working with Jack Hanna to help the preservation of both the polar bear and the mountain gorillas, which he continues to support today through art.

Featured Artwork:

Laura Mark-Finberg

Laura Mark-Finberg’s paintings have been described as “windows unto the soul” of the animals she paints., During a career that has spanned more than twenty-five years Laura has explored a vast array of subjects in her quest to help the viewer understand a little more about the animals she paints. Laura is meticulous in her research and attention to detail and demonstrates a flawless search for truth in each painting.

Working primarily in acrylic, Laura’s technique is to build up layers of paint to create the detail, depth and reality of her paintings. Her favorite subject are the predators. “Unlike some animals there is such awareness in the eyes.”

Laura has traveled extensively. Her research has taken her to such divergent places as the Himalayas in both Afghanistan and Kashmir and to the undersea world off the coast of Venezuela. Laura believes, “it’s the research that keeps my paintings fresh and alive.

Her work has appeared on the cover of a number of national and regional magazines including “Wildlife Art News.”

Laura has won the Pennsylvania State Conservation Print Competition on three occasions and has worked with conservation groups throughout her career. In 1990 she produced Waterfowl USA’s NY 1st of State Conservation Print and was the Member Artist of the Year for the National organization in 1991. She was one of sixteen artists from across North America selected through “The International Treaty Support Fund” to work on a limited-edition leather-bound book on endangered species.

Laura painted the “Companion Print of the Year” in 1995 for National Whitetails Unlimited. In 2002, working closely with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Laura produced the 1st of State Conservation Print for Pennsylvania.

Featured Artwork:

Bonnie Marris

Bonnie Marris has been studying and painting wolves, foxes, dogs and horses since childhood. She remembers her family home as a refuge for anyone in trouble, human or animal. “At one time we had two wolves and a three-month-old coyote living with us,” she recalls with a smile. Always, when Marris wasn’t around animals, she was painting them and this love led her to pursue degrees in zoology and animal behavior, studying predictors (wolves, big cats, bears, and foxes). Animals are an integral part of both her life and her art.

She cites David Shephard, the great British painter and preservationist, as her hero and mentor. His mastery of color and pure magic on canvas, she says, motivate her every day to become more skillful, to make an animal seem to step off the linen canvas so that viewers hold their breath in preparation for the meeting. If anyone has never had the opportunity to see a fox running through a field and stopping suddenly to listen for a mouse or to watch a pack of wild wolves at play, Marris wants to give that person some of the experience with a painting.

Studying color and light, Marris says, has become an obsession with her. “Color sets a mood, an atmosphere that can create feelings ranging from contentment to terror. There are colors within colors, too. The many colors in a shadow, for instance, convey cold or heat. The way light plays with the subject is also very important. Light may dance across snow or water, then lead the eye through the thick fur of a wolf’s neck or flash in the corner of a cougar’s eye. I’m fascinated by hue changes in light as it ages with the day.”

The passion Bonnie Marris has for wilderness, for animals and for light and color come together in her art and she feels her work has accomplished its purpose when a viewer feels that same passion.

Featured Artwork:

John Seerey-Lester

1980–2020

Seerey-Lester was born and raised in England and moved to the United States in 1980, becoming a citizen in 2012. For nearly four decades, Sir John Seerey-Lester was at the top level of representational painters, particularly in the genre of wildlife art.Represented in the White House’s art collection, Seerey-Lester was a favorite of collectors, a mentor to many, and an inspiration to thousands of painters.

Seerey-Lester was known to be generous with other artists with encouragement and advice and was popular for his ability to tell stories from his adventures and those of others. Although his fame came primarily from his work with a paintbrush, Seerey-Lester was a writer as well, publishing four books illustrated with his paintings. In later years, the artist focused on retelling in words and paintings the stories from Theodore Roosevelt’s hunts. It was a natural fit for the artist, as Seerey-Lester put a high value on telling a story in his paintings.

His works hang in major museums including the Gilcrease Museum, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Bennington Center for the Arts, and the Sonora Desert Museum. His paintings regularly appeared in shows at the Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, and his participation in the “Western Visions” shows at the National Museum of Wildlife Art was always expected. He and his wife were the subject of a two-person show at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in 2016.

Seerey-Lester served on the board of directors for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and Artists for Conservation and was a member of the Society of Animal Artists, the Boone and Crockett Club, Oil Painters of America, Southern Plein Air Artists, and the NRA’s Hunters Leadership Forum.

His awards and recognitions included knighthood by His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Andres of Austria, the Ring of Freedom Award from the National Rifle Association, the Simon Combes Award for Conservation, and Artist of the Year from Sporting Classics.

Featured Artwork:

Derek Wicks

“Nature and Art have always been a constant thread throughout my life. As early as I can remember I was interested in the mystique of nature and the beauty of art. Nature gives to the world unconditionally and we in turn must except that we are a living breathing part of nature and not its master. I have a love for the wonders of nature and art in combination and want to show the world the connection between the two. From as early as I remember I wanted to be a nature artist, share nature with the world while conserving its beauty. Conservation became an important part of my values and beliefs and is a large part of the man I am today.”

In 1993 I graduated from Sheridan with a diploma in Technical & Scientific Illustration and won the Artistic Excellence Award in my graduation year.

In 1996 young and inexperienced in the art world I found my first art distributor, Shabban Serra Ltd. Shaban Serra offered a guiding light and helping hand. My first gallery show was at The Prestige Gallery in Mississauga, Ontario. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. I was so thrilled to be part of the show. Quickly thrill became horror when I realized my originals were hung beside none other than Robert Batemans art. It was the most intimidating feeling. Little did I know that this would be the biggest break of all. It was exposure I never expected, and I was fortunate to sell several of my originals and receive many invitations to some of the biggest shows in art. Since then, I have had a very fulfilling career in art.

“As a young artist in high school and college I was very inspired by Robert Batemans work. As the years have passed, I realized I was more inspired by his fame then his work. His work is beautiful, but I am the total opposite of Bateman. I spent so many years trying to be another artist, never exploring my own style and techniques.

Daniel Smith, one of the biggest names in art had a style very similar to mine. Dan and I met at a show in Lancing, Michigan in 1998 and I instantly took to Dan’s tutelage. A few years later I had the opportunity to paint with Dan for a week in Montana. I really believe I learned more from him in one week then I did in three years at college. The biggest message I try to convey in my workshops now is “be you, let your strengths define you.”

Today the bulk of my inspiration comes from the world around me and the connections I make with others. Teaching at workshops have become an endless source of information and inspiration. When you have a room of twenty artist that are all sharing, you cannot help but absorb knowledge.”