Raised in a family of musicians in Nashville, Tennessee, wildlife painter Paco Young opted for a profession of art instead of music. He earned a BFA from the Memphis Academy of Arts and became a highly successful wildlife and landscape painter.

For ten years, his studio was in Atlanta, Georgia where he did traditional wildlife painting, but in 1994, he and his family moved to land on the Gallatin River near Bozeman, Montana. There he avidly pursues fly fishing, and his painting is directed to the landscape, especially winter scenes. Young has discovered his passion for plein air landscape painting while living in Montana.

Paco Young's paintings are noted for his use of light and his ability to capture an animal in his natural landscape. Young was commissioned by the National Park Service to complete a 8 X 6 foot painting of a standing grizzly for the Lewis and Clark Interpretative Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

During the summers 1999 and 2000, he and John Seerey-Lester gave a popular summer wildlife painting workshop for the Beartooth School of Art in Bozeman, Montana.

Paco Young died in 2005 from a long battle with leukemia.


Source:
Wildlife Art, September 2004

As a boy in Tennessee, Paco Young was a talented musician who assumed he would pursue a career in the music business in nearby Nashville as most of his family had done. But when he got to college, he decided to give art a try for one year. It was then that he knew there would be no turning back. After five years of formal art training at the Memphis Academy of Arts, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

A true outdoorsman, Young is now living near Bozeman, Montana, with his wife and young son in a setting that provides constant inspiration to fuel his imagination. As the world is becoming more high-tech, Young believes the simple life appeals to more people: "I want to record our times because they will be the past before we realize it."

His splendid landscapes reflect his love of the land. Young's lifelong affinity for nature began during his boyhood when, surrounded by woods and streams, he lived in an ideal environment to foster such enthusiasm. His oil paintings are timeless and full of vitality.

Blessed with an uncommon ability to paint from life in the field, he lives in surroundings that have had a great influence on his work: "Painting in the field has always been my first love. I find that I'm usually inspired first by a landscape or setting that seems ideal in terms of composition and design. The animals or birds I paint are elements in the overall design - they must exist within the conceptual framework of the painting, yet remain true to their natural mannerisms."

Traveling extensively, he has honed his technical skills with professional art tours, invitationals and group exhibits. Awards and honors continue to come his way. He has been named Artist of the Year for Rocky Mountain Elk (1988), Quail Unlimited (1995), Ruffed Grouse (1996) and NRA (1998/99).

Young's artwork was selected by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum for their 1990 "Wildlife: The Artist's View" and their 1991 "Birds In Art" exhibits; his art was part of both of the exhibits' national tours. Young's paintings were selected for Leigh Yawkey's 1993 "Wildlife In Art" show. In 1994, he was the Featured Artist at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. He was named Flyway Artist by Ducks Unlimited (1996 and 1998; he took Sixth Place in the 1999 Federal Duck Stamp competition; and he has been the focus of a number of magazine articles.

Had he pursued a career as a musician, Young probably would have composed melodies to express the passion he feels for a landscape that is rapidly changing. Instead, he chose to express himself with paint and, like a classic melody, his paintings are unforgettable.