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BIOGRAPHY |
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Landscape Painter and Wildlife Artist
Author & Illustrator of the Golden Guide Eastern Birds
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Jim Coe is an artist with a passion for birds and nature.
Growing up in the suburbs of New York City, he was fascinated early on by the egrets and shorebirds he noticed in nearby salt marshes, and he taught himself to identify the birds he spotted around town. He began to paint as a teen when he and a friend set out to compile a guide to the local birds.
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Jim went on to Harvard, where he earned a degree in biology (with the goal of becoming an ornithologist), but received little formal training in art until he attended Parson’s School of Design in New York as a graduate student. There he studied in a traditional atelier setting, working primarily from the figure and still life, under the guidance of painters Paul Resika, Leland Bell, and John Heliker.
Immediately after earning his master’s degree at Parson’s Jim shifted gears and immersed himself in the art of field guide illustration. He contributed work to several books, including the recently reissued Easy Bird Guide: West, and Birds of New Guinea, and to Frank Gill’s classic college textbook Ornithology. But he is best known as the author and illustrator of the acclaimed Golden Field Guide Eastern Birds, first published in 1994, and reissued in 2001 by St. Martin’s Press.
Finally, after more than fifteen years of painting nothing but bird identification plates, each carefully rendered in watercolor and gouache, Jim stepped back across the divide into the world of ‘fine’ art, and he turned his attention to painting landscapes in plein air. He found that many of the skills needed to capture the fleeting light and dynamic conditions of the landscape are analogous to those he had previously developed for sketching an active bird as it foraged or preened. Both rely on careful observation, practiced visual memory, speed, and instinct. But the vigor and physical energy that it takes to dash a quick field study in oil paints were new to Jim's work at that time, and they clearly helped shape his approach to painting.
Today, Jim’s studio work is essentially a synthesis of the two genres: his paintings combine his passion for landscape with a finely detailed knowledge of natural history. In his newest canvases, he integrates birds into his landscapes, while striving still to maintain the freshness and vigorous brushwork of a plein air study. The chosen bird is usually one that he heard or observed while working at that location, and it adds an element of movement, color, or interest to the scene. Jim’s goal is not just to portray the bird or the setting, but to evoke the entire visual experience of bird watching.
A signature member of the Society of Animal Artists and member of the Society’s Board of Directors, Jim shows regularly in the Society’s annual exhibitions. He is also a regular exhibitor in the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s prestigious "Birds in Art" annual and in the Bennington Center for the Arts’ shows: “Art of the Animal Kingdom” and “Impressions of New England.” He is also a signature member of the new Artists for Conservation and has shown with their annual juried exhibit hosted by the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in Oradell, NJ.
Jim is represented in the permanent collections of the New York State Museum, Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Hiram Blauvelt and Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museums, and the Bennington Center for the Arts. Jim’s artwork was the subject of a feature article in the May-June 2003 issue of Wildlife Art, and his landscapes have been featured in Fine Art Connoisseur (formerly Plein Air Magazine). His paintings have appeared on the covers of Sanctuary, Bird Watcher's Digest, Birding World, and The Auk, professional journal of the American Ornithologist’s Union.
Jim lives with his wife and two children on the western rim of the Hudson River Valley, not far from Albany, NY. He maintains a home studio in their restored farmhouse and enjoys the quiet and beauty of the surrounding farms and woodlands.
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Link to Artists for Conservation website:
Awards
2009 1st Place, Laumeister Fine Art Competition, Bennington Ctr. for the Arts
2009 Honorable Mention, Laumeister Fine Art Competition
2009 Medal of Excellence, Artists for Conservation
2009 Honorable Mention, Quick Draw, Plein Air Easton, Easton, MD
2008 Award of Excellence, Society of Animal Artists;
2006 Purchase Award, SAA, Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum
2006 Finalist, Art Prize Challenge, #31, Landscapes, International Artist Magazine
2004 Purchase Award, Focus on Nature, VIII, NY State Museum
Memberships
Signature Member, Society of Animal Artists
(Serving on Board of Directors since January 2009)
Signature Member, Artists for Conservation (formerly WNAG)
Associate Member, Oil Painters of America
Associate Member, American Impressionist Society
Collections
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT
First Reserve National Bank, Greenwich, CT
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, NJ
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Massachusetts Audubon Society Visual Arts Center, Canton, MA
New York State Museum, Albany, NY
Selsor Gallery, Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum, Chanute, KS
Woodin & Company Store Fixtures, South Portland, ME
Selected Solo & Two Person Exhibitions 2002-2009
Mark Gruber Gallery, New Paltz, NY: Plein Air Painters, James Cramer & James Coe, 2007.
Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY: A Quiet Place, 2005.
Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY: James Coe: Plein Air, 2004.
Marion Art Center, Marion, MA: James Coe, Plein Air Landscapes, 2003.
Massachusetts Audubon Society, Visual Arts Center, Canton, MA: Finding a Place for Birds, 2002.
Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY: Views of the Valley, 2002.
Selected Group Exhibitions 2003-2009
New York State Museum, Albany, NY: Breeding Bird Atlas, 20 Years of Changing Bird Distribution, 2009.
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI: Birds in Art, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 2003, 2005-2009.
Sage Creek Gallery, Santa Fe, NM: National Juried Exhibition of the Oil Painters of America, 2009.
Academy Art Museum, Easton, MD: Easton Plein Air Festival, 2008-09.
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, NJ: Artists for Conservation, 2nd Annual Juried Exhibition, 2009.
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT: The Laumeister Fine Art Competition, 2009.
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT: Art of the Animal Kingdom, 1998, 2002-2009.
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT: Small Works, 2004-2009.
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT: Impressions of New England, 2003-2009.
Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure, Salina, KS: 49th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, 2009.
The Banks Gallery @Castle in the Clouds, Moultonborough, NH: Lake Effect, Landscapes of the New Hampshire Lake Region, 2009.
Windham Fine Arts, A River Runs Through It, 2009.
Windham Fine Arts, Ullr's Reverie, 2009.
Mark Gruber Gallery, Visions of the Valley, 2009.
Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI: 48th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, 2008.
Windham Fine Arts, The Art of Nature, 2008.
Richland Fine Art Gallery, Nashville, TN: Oil Painters of America, Eastern Regional, 2008.
Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY: Paint the Mountain Top, 2005-2008.
The Banks Gallery, Portsmouth, NH: Island Light, Paintings of the Isles of Shoals, 2008.
Mark Gruber Gallery, New Paltz, NY: Capturing the Mood, Hudson Valley Landscapes, 2008.
Barnsite Gallery, Kewanee, WI: Barns and Farms, 2008.
New York State Museum, Albany, NY: Focus on Nature, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY: Curator’s Choice , 2007-2008.
Gregory James Gallery, New Milford & Kent, CT: Small Treasures and More, 2006-2008.
The Banks Gallery, Portsmouth, NH: Island Light, Monhegan Island, 2007.
The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO: 47th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, 2007.
Whistle Pik Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX: Oil Painters of America, 16th National Juried Exhibition, 2007
Gregory James Gallery, Kent, CT: Winter Show, 2007.
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT: 46th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, 2006.
Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY: A Season of Snow, 2006.
Brazier Fine Art, Richmond, VA: Oil Painters of America, Eastern Regional, 2006.
Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, CT: All Paintings Great and Small, 2005-2006.
Smithy-Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown, NY: Upstate Landscape, 2006.
Nevada State Museum, Carson City, NV: 45th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, 2005.
Hilligoss Galleries, Chicago, IL: Oil Painters of America, National Exhibition, 2005.
Objects and Images, Bronxville, NY: Painting in the Moment, 2004 - 2006.
Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY: Flowing to the Hudson, 2005.
Windham Fine Arts, Windham, NY: A Celebration of Snow, 2004.
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, NJ: 44th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, 2004.
Barnsite Art Studio and Gallery, Kewaunee, WI: Oil Painters of America, Eastern Regional, 2004.
Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland, WA: Oil Painters of America, National Exhibition, 2004.
Spencertown Academy, Spencertown, NY: Barns of the Valley, 2004.
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, NJ: 43rd Annual Exhibition of the Society of Animal Artists, 2003.
Clarke Galleries, Stowe, VT: IV Centuries of Birds in Paintings, Sculpture, & Fine Prints, 2003.
Working in the studio, 2005
Not far from home in Hannacroix, August 2009
Painting in Windham, November 2004
Photo by Harry McChesney
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