Allen Blagden
Allen Blagden was born into a family of artists with long-time Adirondack connections to Upper Saranac Lake. He began painting with his artist father, Thomas Blagden, and continued at Hotchkiss School, Cornell University, and as an illustrator for the Department of Ornithology at the Smithsonian Institution. Often compared to Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth, Allen Blagden is a distinguished American contemporary realist. His beginnings at the Smithsonian Institution led to a renowned career as a painter of birds, animals, people, and the landscapes of his Connecticut home, the Adirondacks and Maine. Widely regarded asan American original, Blagden’s art has been exhibited and collected around the country.
Blagden’s award-winning wildlife art is distinguished by great talent and skill as well as by his deep empathy for his subjects. This empathy results from intimate and first hand encounters with creatures in nature.
Al Jordan
Artist. Teacher. Author. Falconer. For over 30 years Al Jordan has been carving inspired, world-class works of art that visually and viscerally move people. Based on a life long love of birds – owls, raptors, songbirds and shorebirds – Al’s work transcends detailed realism and draws his viewers into a series of rich, remarkable stories. Each story is unique, each offering an intimate, personal connection to the time and space of each piece. His long-standing passion for the art of falconry further deepens and expresses itself in his art, gracefully and powerfully emerging from the grain and patterns and colors of the wood in which he works. A masterful carver, devoted to his craft, Al continues to explore the interface of art and nature.
In my work over the past 30 years, I have strived to create inspired, world-class works of art that visually and viscerally move people. Based on a life long love of birds – especially owls, raptors, songbirds and shorebirds – my work attempts to transcend detailed realism and to draw my viewers into a series of rich, engaging stories. Each story is unique, offering an intimate, personal connection to the time and space of each piece. My long-standing passion for the art of falconry further deepens and expresses itself in my art, emerging naturally and powerfully from the grain and patterns and colors of the wood in which I work. Deeply devoted to my craft, I continue to explore the interface between the worlds of art and nature.
Larry Master
Larry Master is a conservation biologist, a zoologist, and, in his retirement, a conservation photographer. He has been photographing wildlife and natural history subjects for more than 60 years. After doctoral and post-doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, Larry spent 20 years with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and 6 years with NatureServe, most of that time as their Chief Zoologist. He also served on EPA’s Science Advisory Board. Larry conceived and co-authored Rivers of Life: Critical Watersheds for Protecting Freshwater Biodiversity. He has also authored numerous other publications as well as chapters in several books (e.g., Precious Heritage, Our Living Resources). In his retirement he serves on boards of the Adirondack Explorer, the Ausable River Association, and the Northern Forest Atlas Foundation, as well as on the Science & Recovery Advisory Board of Living with Wolves, the Vermont Center for Ecostudies’ Science Advisory Council, The Biodiversity Conservancy Advisory Board, and the American Society of Mammalogists' Mammal Images Library. Larry resides in Keene, NY and West Cornwall, CT.
My goal in taking images of wildlife is to inspire people to have the same reverence and appreciation of the natural world that I have developed over a lifetime dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity – the natural world of which we are a part and on which we depend. I have been extremely fortunate in my life and career and to have been witness to many of the splendors of nature and to have captured some of those on film. It is my privilege to share those images.
