McHenry County News FRE
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Volume 5 Issue 46
November 12, 2015
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Successful Artist/Illustrator moves to Marengo
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By Anne Eickstadt, Correspondent
aul Turnbaugh has been a professional illustrator for 40 years. “I’ve worked for advertising agencies, marketing firms and with just about every publisher. I have illustrated a version of the ‘Narnia’ series and ‘The Magic Bicycle’ series,” he tells me. Paul grew up in Moline, IL. He and his wife of 34 years, Sharon, moved to Marengo a year ago. “We’re in McHenry County to stay. The Midwest is my favorite part of the country because of the seasons.” “I have been painting, basically my whole life. I knew what I wanted to be in high school. I went to art school in California – the California College of the Arts. After college, I lived in California for four years, then moved back to Illinois, to Rolling Meadows. I started out as a freelancer and immediately did pretty well. I got married in 1981.” “I paint a lot of things in McHenry County. The rural area is one of the things I really enjoy around here,” Paul says. “I launched my website, Wild Heartland, this year. I plan on making that grow.” Paul has a ‘Heartland Treasures’ series of paintings and a ‘Marengo Sparrow’ series among others. “I received a People’s Choice award at the August, 2015, 4th Friday at the Starline Gallery event with my ‘Morning in the Heartland’ painting.” His “Good Earth” Collection contains the ‘Songbird’ series, ‘Wingspan’ series, ‘Landscape’ and ‘Wildlife’ series of paintings. His “Sportsman” Collection has fish, game bird, waterfowl , white tail deer and still life paintings. He also has “Patriot”, “Homefront” and “Warrior” Collections holding more of his gifted work. “We grew up near farms. My grandparents grew up on a farm. Agriculture really appeals to me. Suburbs have a reason for being but they have kind of lost their soul. I fantasize about the World War II generation, the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s generations and rural America. I think I grew up in the wrong era. If we got to live several lifetimes, in one of them I would like to be a farmer.” “One of the things that is interesting about me is that I am the father of an Army Infantry veteran. My son’s name is Elliot James Turnbaugh. Three brothers with the last name of ‘Elliot’ fought in the Civil War. ‘Elliot’ and ‘James’ are both ancestral family names. Once my son enlisted, I became involved with several veterans groups. I got invited to many, many more.” His work can be found online at www.wildheartland.com. Some of his work can also be seen on Facebook at Wild Heartland, Painter.
photos courtesy of Paul Turnbaugh
Above: ‘Morning in the Heartland’ won the People’s Choice award at the August, 2015 4th Friday at the Starline Gallery. Below: Paul Turnbaugh has been a successful artist/illustrator for 40 years.