OLEAN, N.Y. — A Bradford, Pa., artist will be featured when the Tri-County Arts Council presents “A Natural Connection,” featuring landscapes and wildlife art by Denise Drummond and Joseph Grice — Saturday through June 15 in the Peg Bothner Gallery at the Arts Council, 110 W. State St.
A public reception is planned for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. May 18.
“We’re so excited to have these two incredible artists in the gallery,” said Paula Bernstein, executive director of the Tri-County Arts Council. “It’s a must-see for anyone who loves the great outdoors.”
Drummond, of Bradford, began her love affair with nature at an early age while growing up in the woodlands of northwestern Pennsylvania, drawing animals and nature scenes at age 2 and started selling her artwork as a teenager.
Drummond has been a freelance artist since 1980 and works in graphite and watercolor to create nature scenes with a special love for our national parks and wilderness areas. A self-taught landscape and portrait artist, her work has been shown and collected worldwide.
“My artwork is an attempt to capture and hold the love I have for nature and wild places, especially our national parks and wilderness areas,” Drummond said. “I am intrigued and drawn in by every twig on the branches of trees. Most of my drawings and paintings show all of that detail, from the leaves on trees to the ferns on the forest floor.”
Grice is a wildlife illustrator currently working in Jamestown. After graduating with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from SUNY Fredonia in 2010, he taught art at Infinity Visual & Performing Arts in Jamestown and Holt School of Fine Art in Charlotte, N.C. He began painting birds as his primary subject matter in 2016, a tribute to his childhood where he grew up watching birds and spending time admiring the art of the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guidebooks.
Grice has since further developed his bird series and his appreciation for all wildlife. After an artist residency and subsequent solo exhibition at Roger Tory Peterson Institute in 2023, he continued to expand upon his use of multiple media including oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, and digital illustration.
His current series of works explores the connections that we make with nature that help to heal and give us hope in a time when both are needed more than ever.
“Birds are like living, breathing works of art. Their colors and patterns dance through the skies and treetops, making our world a more beautiful place to live,” Grice said. “They symbolize hope, showing us that we have the strength to overcome adversity. They remind us to be fierce, elegant, communal and kind, to be unapologetically ourselves. My bird portraits not only speak to the beauty of the creatures that we share our planet with but also remind us of the traits within ourselves that make us uniquely human.”
For more information, visit tricountyartscouncil.org or call (716) 244-2943.
