My ability to draw was apparent from an early age and it was something that I loved and was encouraged to do. Artistically I ventured into other mediums during my youth and, with the exception of some water colour classes with a local artist when I was eleven, I am for the most part self-taught. I found that I especially enjoyed painting with acrylics and I completed my first major piece when I was fifteen; it hangs on my wall to this day.

Besides drawing and painting, I have always been interested in birds and animals and their natural habitats. From an early age, whether it was hanging out in my own back yard or going on family outings to provincial and national parks, I was afforded the opportunity to observe birds and animals in their natural environments. Whether I'm revisiting many of these places, that have become very special, or exploring new ones, there isn't an outing or sighting in any season or cycle that doesn't excite and amaze me. They are the source of my inspiration.

So it’s of no surprise that my art is about wildlife and the places it inhabits. Since it is something that I hold so close to my heart, when I paint the birds or animals in their natural habitats I know I am painting passionately. From the way the grass sways in symphony with the wind to the moving stillness of the forest at dusk to the snow capped rugged mountains these places and the magnificent wildlife that inhabits them never cease to amaze me.

When I paint what I have encountered I relive the moment and the mystery of it all, how everything is balanced and in harmony with everything else. I am humbled to have walked where earth's natural beauty abounds and to have witnessed, to have felt and experienced such special connections with nature. It is my hope that these extraordinary natural places will be there for years to come so that my children and their children and their children’s children can see and experience them and be in awe the same way that I am.

That is why I paint. I hope my paintings reflect just how precious each one of these places or creatures is and how important it is that we focus on protecting them. I hope you get as much enjoyment looking at my art as I have had creating it. May it reflect the great respect and love that I have for all of earth's natural places.

- Joseph Koensgen

Hiking at Johnston Canyon, Banff Alberta.

Working on a painting in my studio.

'I am humbled to have
walked where earth's natural beauty
abounds and to have witnessed, to have
felt and experienced such special
connections with nature'.

- Joseph Koensgen