Tom Schultz to speak about “Birding in Wisconsin” at From the Land Folk Art Festival

The From the Land Folk Art Festival began when festival organizer Jan Londowski  planted the seed of thought into the people she touched throughout her life.  Jan incorporates her loves of many things into an annual gathering that is the culmination of the best of the best of what being on this earth has to offer.  Each year a featured topic, speaker, and presentation is brought in for the event.  The entire event is free to the general public (donations are appreciated of course).  This year, attendees will be treated to Birding in Wisconsin as presented by Tom Schultz.

Thomas Schultz graduated in 1976 with a B.S. in Wildlife Ecology, and continued to develop his skills at painting birds in natural habitat settings. That summer, he participated in a bird-painting seminar in Trinidad with well-known avian artist, Don Eckelberry. His artistry continued to mature, and his work began to attract a large following of enthusiastic collectors. Numerous commissioned paintings, both corporate and private, have been completed over the years.

In 1981 he had a painting juried into the prestigious Leigh Yawkey Woodson “Birds in Art” exhibition in Wausau, Wisconsin. This annual exhibit attracts submissions of bird art from around the world, and has become the premier show of its kind. Six additional paintings have been shown there in subsequent years, and in 1993 Schultz had a painting placed into the museum’s permanent collection.

An outgrowth of that 1981 exhibition was a commission from the National Geographic Society to illustrate a portion of their popular new book, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (published in 1983). He has also been contracted to illustrate additional figures for the third, fourth, and fifth editions of this popular field guide, and in 2006 he did some illustrations for National Geographic Complete Birds of North America. In 1988 he was selected to be “Wisconsin Wildlife Artist of the Year” by Wisconsin Sportsman Magazine.

The artist has had his work reproduced in a number of magazines and other publications, and most recently has worked on illustrations for several books. One is A Field Guide to Warblers of North America, published in 1997 by Houghton Mifflin as a part of the Peterson Field Guide Series. He also provided illustrations for a Smithsonian Institution field guide that was published in 2005 titled, Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 & 2
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Schultz has become an expert in the identification of North American birds, and is active in the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, where he serves as vice president and as co-chair of the field trip committee. From 1994 to 2000 he served as a member of the Steering Committee of the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas project, and was also a Regional Coordinator. In addition, he was the photo editor for the resulting book, and authored a number of species accounts.

The artist currently resides in the rural Green Lake, WI area with his wife, Wendy, and two sons. He maintains a studio in his home, where he is surrounded by the forests, fields, and marshes that provide unlimited inspirations for future paintings.

Come meet Tom in the unique and intimate setting that the family farmstead and the “From the Land” Festival provides.  Tom will be speaking at 11:00am and in case you miss the morning, he will speak at 1:00pm also.  Tom will be presenting on both Saturday and Sunday.

The festival is held on the farmstead around W1601 County Road J, Green Lake Wisconsin.  Parking available in adjacent hayfields.  The 2010 festival will be the 9th annual and is schedule to be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 23 and 24th.