Gallery Artist: Linda Besse

Linda Besse Biography

Like most wildlife artists, Linda was enchanted with animals at an early age. However, vivid childhood memories of her great uncle and his African hunting stories gave her an immediate sense of the adventure one experiences when exploring wild animals and places. Linda was drawn to the outdoors through her geology bachelor's degree from Colgate University, followed with a Master of Science degree which enabled her to get into the back country of Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana.

She is a self-taught artist and from field sketches, small field paintings, and her photographs, Linda creates a composition designed to reflect the inherent artistry of nature. Painting exclusively in oil because she likes its luminosity, depth, and intensity of color, Linda uses a mostly wet-on-wet technique to capture the immediacy of the image. She lives in the country surrounded by deer, wild turkey, grouse, quail, coyote, and the occasional moose and mountain lion.

After visiting over 20 countries, she finally got to Africa in 1997, and again in 1999 for an extended 5 ½ week trip (including a 70 km canoe trip on the Zambezi river.) In May 2001, Linda added to her list of countries Iceland, where she revisited her love of geology as well as explored arctic bird life. Linda visited her 27th country, New Zealand, the Fall of 2005.

Her galleries, exhibits, and shows have included:
Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum 2001-2005;
Birds in Art 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2005-2007 National Tour
Art and the Animal VIII + IX, Bennington Center for the Arts, VT;
Pacific Flyway Gallery Featured Artist, July 2003, Spokane;
Three Woman Show, Holland & Holland, New York City, 2003:
Art of the Hunt Gallery, Greenwich, NY;
NatureWorks, Tulsa, OK, 2002-2005;
Safari Club International, Reno, and Las Vegas, 1999-2005;
Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival, Thomasville, GA, 2003;
Waterfowl Festival, Easton, Maryland, 2003-2005;
It's For the Birds Invitational show, Framework Design, Bozeman, MT.
Society of Animal Artists 44th Annual Exhibition + Annual Tour 2004-2006
2007 Best of Show, “Natureworks” Tulsa, Oklahoma