Duane Geisness was born and raised in the big city of Chicago, Illinois, but it was on family trips to his grandparent's farm in the northern Wisconsin that he fell in love with nature and the wildlife that is so much of what he paints today. A graduate of the American Academy of Art in Chicago, he paints proficiently in acrylics and watercolors. He has shared the spotlight with some of the world's leading wildlife artists including Robert Bateman, Carl Brenders and John Seerey-Lester.
Nowadays Duane spends his time canoing through the Canadian wilderness and backpacking the trails of the Bighorn in Wyoming. True to his childhood love of Wisconsin's north woods he also spends time exploring them with his loyal Eskimo dog beside him. Duane Geisness feels that this is all a part of the process involved in portraying the truths of nature. He says, "I believe working in the field gathering photo references and doing quick sketches are very important steps in the painting process, and probably the most enjoyable. Wandering through the countryside with camera in hand, the possibilities seem endless, but the real work begins back at my studio in St, Charles, Illinois."
His wonderful painting "Winter Lullaby" has toured the United States in the prestigious "Wildlife: the Artist's View" tour. The tour included The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, the Center for the Arts in Vero Beach Florida, and The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. He has also done a highly successful plate series for the Bradford Exchange entitled "Peace on Earth", of which more than 60,000 plates were sold. The National Wildlife Federation has also published Christmas cards with a number of Duane's paintings.
Duane is an avid admirer of the wolf and in the interest of environmental preservation, he has donated prints to the Yellowstone Association Wolf Research Fund in Wyoming. This is the organization that reintroduced the wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Enjoy some of his beautiful paintings below.
Nowadays Duane spends his time canoing through the Canadian wilderness and backpacking the trails of the Bighorn in Wyoming. True to his childhood love of Wisconsin's north woods he also spends time exploring them with his loyal Eskimo dog beside him. Duane Geisness feels that this is all a part of the process involved in portraying the truths of nature. He says, "I believe working in the field gathering photo references and doing quick sketches are very important steps in the painting process, and probably the most enjoyable. Wandering through the countryside with camera in hand, the possibilities seem endless, but the real work begins back at my studio in St, Charles, Illinois."
His wonderful painting "Winter Lullaby" has toured the United States in the prestigious "Wildlife: the Artist's View" tour. The tour included The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, the Center for the Arts in Vero Beach Florida, and The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. He has also done a highly successful plate series for the Bradford Exchange entitled "Peace on Earth", of which more than 60,000 plates were sold. The National Wildlife Federation has also published Christmas cards with a number of Duane's paintings.
Duane is an avid admirer of the wolf and in the interest of environmental preservation, he has donated prints to the Yellowstone Association Wolf Research Fund in Wyoming. This is the organization that reintroduced the wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Enjoy some of his beautiful paintings below.
Official website of Duane Geisness : Link
“Winter Lullaby”
I wanted to capture the pristine solitude of the animal’s wintry world. Wolves are one of my favorite subjects. Perhaps because they are closely related to dogs, people relate to them so easily. - Duane Geisness
In “Heavenly Slumber” two elusive Snow Leopards huddle together for warmth. These cats are rare and endangered due to poaching and loss of habitat.
This painting was commissioned by the Bradford Exchange as one of their plate series entitled “Peace on Earth”.
American ingenuity knew no limits when figuring out how to harvest timber. The old growth timber played a role in its own demise. Trestles were constructed from logs and timbers cut and assembled on the spot. The trees even supplied power to the wood burning locomotive. Two old and wise ravens head for cover as a logging train vibrates snow from the trestle.
This green sea turtle is attracting a crowd of its fans (raccoon butterfly fish). It’s not because of its famous appearance in Nemo but because they are eager to clean parasites off the turtle’s shell. Sort of a traveling buffet.
Beautiful and awesome. Love all wild life, especially wolves
Awesome! Thanks for sharing and the bio!
Absolutely Brilliant, what more can I say.
Duane captures the very heart, soul, & spirit of all of these beautiful creatures ... I do so admire him for his profoundness and artistic talent!