Jacquelyn Dennis

There is no picture to display. Jacquelyn Dennis P.O. Box 1561 Belgrade, MT 59714 Phone: (406)451-8343 Contact: Send Email Growing up on a farm in northwest Ohio was a great adventure. The shed and barn always smelled of old wood and dirt, while playing host to numerous creatures, like; spiders, ants, and mice. . And of course, a farm had to have a huge garden. Lady bugs, Box-elder , bees, and more were discovered while slaving at pulling weeds, but the pay off for our hard work (for me), was the corn! Other hiding places included the strip of wooded area that ran through the middle of the farm. Hidden among the wide variety of plant life were rabbits, groundhogs, raccoons, foxes, and deer. And the warm summer evenings offered a time to sit, listen to the crickets and locus, or chase fireflies. Yes, being a kid on a farm allowed me to grow up surrounded by the natural world. Eventually, I grew up and left the farm for college. I received my B.F.A. from Adrian College in Adrian Michigan. My M.A. is from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. My grandmother, however, claimed I could not sit still and my wandering spirit lead me to Yellowstone National Park. Here I did research for my master's thesis on William Henry Jackson, a photographer, and Thomas Moran, an artist; both members of the Hayden Expedition to Yellowstone in 1871. The photographs and artwork of these two men influenced congress to establish Yellowstone as our first national park. On the same trip, I spent a few days in Grand Teton National Park. This became a turning point in my life. I spent the next three summers working for Grand Teton Lodge Company in Grand Teton National Park. In my off hours, I hiked and photographed this beautiful country. The third summer, I met my future husband. We were wed in the park and set up housekeeping in Jackson, Wyoming. While living in Jackson I took a correspondence course with New York Institute of Photography. I also acquired a position in a local photo lab. After a few years we moved to Topeka, Kansas, so my husband could watch his daughter grow up. Although I continued my work in photo labs, my personal photography was suffering. I dreamed of returning to the Rocky Mountains. In 2000, after eleven years in Kansas, we moved to the Gallatin Valley, and eventually settled outside Belgrade, Montana. In 2006 I completed a digital correspondence course with New York Institute of Photography. Today I have my own garden, where I pull weeds and the pay-off is still corn! I still enjoy hiking in Grand Teton National Park as well as Yellowstone N.P., Glacier N.P. , and the Gallatin Valley. The summer evenings are not as warm as my youth, and there are no fireflies, but life is still an adventure.

Listed Artwork:   (Click on one to view more information about that artwork) Red Fox One Red Fox Two Josephine Lake in Glacier N.P.-One Josephine Lake in Glacier N.P.-Two Beaver Pond in Grand Teton National Park Ash Cave in the Hocking Hills of Ohio Fall in the Gallatin Valley Lamar River in Yellowstone N.P.