groups and park districts followed. Thirty-three years later, he’s begun his “second career” as a painter of landscapes, buildings, the occasional critter and anything else he finds outdoors as subject matter.
Years of painting like a technician, assimilating various reference materials to make a painting look exactly like specific plants or animals, left Jim little room for personal expression. After experimenting with outdoor, or plein air, painting, in 2005 Jim switched to oils and began to embrace elements of Impressionism. Producing a looser, more relaxed-style picture while remaining true to his accurate nature art background has been a rewarding and satisfying challenge for Jim. “I feel like these new paintings are more alive, as if there is a part of me in each one!”
Jim and his wife Ellen live in Ohio, with their four children and seven grandchildren not far away.
Jim Glover grew up with an artist for a father. Jack Glover, a well-known cartoonist and commercial artist, taught his son informally from the time Jim could hold a pencil. Even though art was “fun,” it never really connected with young Jim.
When Jim was 12, Dave Leatherman, a friend on his little league baseball team, introduced Jim to bird watching. A city kid, Jim knew of pigeons and robins, but was blown away at the up-close view of a real Baltimore Oriole (not the baseball team!), feathered in florescent orange and black. All of a sudden, art made sense! Dave and Jim would go “birding” then go back to Jim’s house, “borrow” art supplies from Jack, and paint pictures of the birds they had seen. A career was born: from that point on, a wildlife artist was all Jim wanted to be. Later course work in college extended his interest to flora and the environmental ecosystem. Jim sees the creative work of God in the breathtaking natural beauty that surrounds us all!
Glover’s career began as an intern illustrator with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and after college (Kent State and Ohio State Universities with majors in art and zoology), he was hired full time.
Designing displays for the Ohio State Fair, developing brochures, maps and trail guides, countless certificates—all were part of the daily work load. But when the Division of Natural Areas and Preserves asked Jim to help come up with posters promoting tax checkoff funds to set aside valuable native habitats, they truly motivated this artist. His love for the outdoors, and birds in particular, came forth and Jim made his reputation as a wildlife artist. Special projects with NOAA, EPA, Ranger Rick, environmental
© Copyright 2006-2012—Jim Glover
