Tri-County Arts Council Presents Ellen Paquette’s Wild Kingdom Exhibition in Olean
The Peg Bothner Gallery hosts a new wildlife portrait exhibition featuring endangered species and Renaissance-inspired animal paintings.
The Tri-County Arts Council is excited to welcome artist Ellen Paquette’s “Wild Kingdom” to the Peg Bothner Gallery on Saturday, March 14th with an opening reception from 5:00-8:00pm. The event is free and open to the public.
About the exhibition, Ellen Paquette shared, “The opportunity to have a large number of my paintings hanging together is rare and treasured. I greatly appreciate the TCAC affording me this chance to collectively exhibit paintings from a body of work that has been my focus for the last fourteen years. "Wild Kingdom" includes portraits of animals from all over the world, from the painting of an ermine that started this journey in 2012, to one of my most recent portraits depicting an African lion.”
“Over the last several years, my focus has shifted to primarily depicting vulnerable and endangered species. I include species and endangerment status with each piece to help people learn more about how wildlife is directly impacted by human interference.”
“Even though I've been making art my entire life and earned an art degree in college, I don't feel I really hit my stride until my early 40s, when I began painting animals in a fashion directly inspired by Renaissance portraiture. Combining my love of wildlife with influences from my favorite era of art history, mixing in a fascination with world cultures, costume and textiles, and adding garnishes of mythic and folkloric inspiration and symbolism is the inspiration recipe that has led me to create the work that will be on display at TCAC.”
“Wild Kingdom” will be on view until April 18th. The Peg Bothner Gallery is located at Tri-County Arts Council, 110 West State St., Olean. For more information visit: www.tricountyartscouncil.org