“A Natural Connection” Opens May 11 at TCAC

OLEAN, NY — Landscapes and wildlife art by Denise Drummond and by Joseph Grice will be featured in “A Natural Connection,” opening Saturday in the Peg Bothner Gallery at the Tri-County Arts Council, 110 W. State St.

TCAC will honor the artists with a public reception on May 18 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

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Drummond, a self-taught landscape and portrait artist, lives in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and creates scenes based on national parks and wilderness areas, according to a TCAC press release. Her love affair with nature began at an early age while growing up in the woodlands of Northwestern Pennsylvania. By age 2, she was drawing animals and nature scenes, and as a teenager, she started selling her artwork. Drummond, who works in graphite and watercolor, has been a freelance artist since 1980. Her work has been shown, and collected, around the world.

“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, a wildlife illustrator based in Jamestown, grew up watching birds and spending time admiring the art in the Roger Tory Peterson Field Guidebooks. He began painting birds as his primary subject in 2016 and has continued to develop his bird series and his appreciation for all wildlife. After an artist residency and subsequent solo exhibition at Roger Tory Peterson Institute in 2023, Grice continued to expand upon his use of multiple media, including oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal and digital illustration.

He said in the press release that 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."

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“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.”

Grice earned his BFA from SUNY Fredonia in 2010 and taught art at Infinity Visual & Performing Arts in Jamestown and at the Holt School of Fine Art in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Executive Director of the Tri-County Arts Council Paula Bernstein said, “We’re so excited to have these two incredible artists in the gallery. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves the great outdoors!”

“A Natural Connection" will close on June 18. Gallery hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, noon until 6 p.m., and Saturdays, noon until 5 p.m.

For more information, people can visit https://www.tricountyartscouncil.org/ or call (716) 244-2943.

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