meet the artist
The Wildlife Art of Jack Paluh
Story by W. H. (Chip) Gross
Woods, Water and Wildlife Section of Country Living Magazine
Vol. 50, No. 3, Pages 28 & 29
Wildlife artist Jack Paluh (pronounced pa-lew) was a “constant doodler” from the time he was old enough to hold a pencil. His teachers recognized Jack’s talents early and encouraged him to continue developing his art skills following high school. But Paluh had other ideas, finding work as a truck driver. His life changed drastically, however, in the autumn of 1982 when he was injured in a hunting accident.
“While I was Bowhunting, my treestand collapsed beneath me and I fell 20 feet to the ground, cracking a vertebra in my back,” Jack remembers. “But God was faithful, and provided me with an opportunity to find the silver lining in a very dark cloud.”
Paluh is referring to his recuperation period when he painted a white-tailed deer picture titled “Monday Morning”. A local art gallery published a limited edition of 450 signed and numbered prints and 900 signed-only prints. Both editions sold out in several months. Today, those same prints are valued one the secondary market at $650 to $1,000 each. “That was nearly 30 years ago,” said Paluh, “and so began my career as a fulltime nature artist.”
In 1995, Jack Paluh added a new twist to his paintings, combining wildlife art with the craft of hunting as practiced by Eastern Woodland Indians some 250 years ago. “As an avid bowhunter, I’m fascinated by the skills of the Indian hunter,” say Paluh. “For Native Americans, hunting was motivated by survival. Their hunting skills and traditions have provided me with continuous inspiration for my artwork.”
One of the reasons Paluh’s art continues to be popular with art collectors as well as hunters is his attention to detail. He often spends as much time researching a work as painting it. He studies diaries or settlers who lived with Indians, attends Eastern Woodland Indian conferences and collects Native American items and costumes. In addition Paluh calls on friends who are experts in 18th-century history, asking them to critique his work and provide feedback.
A time when Jack’s research revealed the accuracy of his work was when, after his Eastern Woodland Indian painting was released, some collectors and art critics questioned the type of bow draw Native hunters would have used – pinch versus three fingers. Paluh turned to his research to prove that Native archers indeed used both methods.
“Here’s another detail included in some of my painting that most people would not know,” Jack continued. “It was common for the 18th-century Iroquois warrior to wear a hair roach of dyed animal hair over the soft spot on his head. Indians at the time believed that evil spirits could enter the body at this place, so the hair ornament served as protection.”
Another trademark of Paluh’s work is the small, nearly hidden objects he includes in each painting. Paluh is a storyteller with his paintings, and these hidden objects help tell the background story. Examples include a discarded flint arrowhead in the grass, a faded footprint in the snow, a lost turkey call near the base of a tree, or a knife dropped in the brush. These objects draw the observer into each painting, simultaneously propelling the person back in time, giving the viewer a sense of history – a taste of another time and place.
A look into Jack Paluh’s art studio is also like stepping back in time. Located near Waterford, a small town in northwest Pennsylvania’s Erie County, the renovated farmhouse is surrounded by woods, fields and wetlands. His studio is part of the house and filled with hand-crafted Indian tools and hunting equipment. Native regalia, including leather leggings made from deer hide, and head ornaments made from deer bone and porcupine quills, hang from pegs on the walls. The artist often asks family members or friends to don this clothing or hold a piece of equipment and pose for him outdoors while he sketches or takes photographs for reference. Jack has more than 10,000 research photos and slides, never using fewer than 50 images to create a painting.
“I often sketch or paint outdoors first to capture color and setting,” states Paluh, “then move indoors to refine the painting. Color and lighting are important aspects in my work. I want the viewer’s eye to flow comfortably through a piece. I also work hard to draw the viewer into the canvas. I want the person to feel as if they have visited the place I’m painting.”
Jack Paluh has received many honors in his career as a nature artist, but none more significant to him than meeting and talking with the people who have purchased his artwork. Whether at an art show or during a chance meeting along a sidewalk, Jack is never too busy to answer questions about his paintings or swap a few hunting stories.
Hunting is the lifeline of Paluh’s artwork. He is an avid turkey hunter, and chasing white-tailed deer with a bow and arrow comes in a close second. In recent years, with the acquisition of several Labrador retrievers, he also has taken up duck and goose hunting.
“I truly enjoy time outdoors,” says Paluh. “It is my time to pray, dream and compose. Even on a hunting day that has been less than successful if measure by the number of animals in the bag, I still return home with ideas. I file those ideas away and use them in future paintings.”
“God has truly blessed me with a job I love,” concludes Jack Paluh. “I encourage others to find their talents and develop them. It is my privilege and honor to share my artwork with other outdoorsmen and women, and to inspire others – especially our youth – with the wonders of the natural world.”
