gail Stanek

Gail is a lifelong resident of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She began drawing at an early age and developed an interest in oil painting in her teens. At 16 she sold her first commissioned painting of a dog, sparking an interest in art as a career. As often happens, she took a full-time job limiting her to painting commissions in her spare time.

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After retiring in 1994, Gail decided to follow her interest in art as a career. She works in many mediums including oil, acrylic, colored pencil, and wood. Although primarily self-taught, she enhanced her skills by attending seminars taught by world-renowned artists.

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Gail’s interest in plein air painting has helped her combine three of the things in life that she enjoys most - painting, birdwatching, and spending time in our natural world. An added bonus is all of the friends she has made along the way.

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Gail has won numerous awards and entry into juried exhibits with both her paintings and wood sculptures some of which include: Northern Exposure, Wonders in Wood, The North American Wildfowl Carving Championship, The International Woodcarving Congress, The Great Lakes Showcase, The Copper Country Gallery Exhibition, The Ward Foundation World Bird Carving Competition, The Richeson 75 Animals, Birds, and Wildlife Competition and The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s prestigious Birds in Art exhibit.

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Her work appears in private collections throughout the world, in the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis IN, in the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum’s permanent collection, and in the book The Weekend Crafter Woodcarving by John Hiller published by Lark Books.