WILHELM JOSEPH GOEBEL After only a few minutes of conversation with Wilhelm Goebel it becomes quite apparent that he is a very intense and methodical individual. His speech is deliberate and his quiet exterior seems to befit a scientist rather than an artist. In fact, Wil had every intention of becoming a scientist. in 1982 he graduated from Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York, with a bachelors degree in biology. Although he always had an interest in the arts and had painted birds since his early childhood, it was during his college years that he began to paint in earnest for relaxation and to clear his mind of all the demands of chemistry, physics, calculus, and other complex subjects necessary for a scientific profession. Wil was born on July 1, 1960, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. His father, Wilhelm F. Goebel, was born in Essen, Germany and emigrated to the United States during the 1950's. Eva, Wil's mother, is a native Austrian and was a beautician until Wil was born. At that point, she became a full-time mother. Wil's early childhood was somewhat uneventful, and by the time he reached high school, his days were occupied by either studying biology, wandering through the woods and fields, or casting a fly line on a local trout stream. Fly-fishing was then, and still is, his favorite retreat from the pressures of the business world. Near the end of his junior year in college he realized that he had grown further away from science and closer to the world of wildlife art. Through a professor at Ithaca College Wil met Don Ekelberry, one of the most respected of the pioneers of bird painting. Wil persuaded Don to critique his work on a regular basis, and with Don's coaching, his work improved dramatically. By the time Wil received his degree from Ithaca College, he knew that biology would have to take a back seat, and that wildlife art would become his life's work. For the first three years after graduation he abandoned his hobbies and social life and concentrated only on painting. Although his parents weren't exactly overjoyed at his decision, they supported him in every way. As his work matured, he began exhibiting at regional art shows, and in 1986 he was invited to exhibit a painting in the BIRDS IN ART show at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. It was at that exhibition that the major publishing firm, Mill Pond Press, signed Wil up as one of their artists for limited edition prints. He remained with Mill Pond Press for seven reasonably successful years during which he received a concentrated dose of much-needed exposure. In 1988 Wil was doing some charity work for a local JC club. Christine Wahalla, a very attractive young lady also doing volunteer work, caught his eye. After dating for a year, they tied the knot. The result of that union, so far, is two daughters, Kimberly and Pamela. During the years between college and marriage, Wil went on many field trips to gather material for his paintings. He visited Trinidad with several other artists where they caught tropical birds in mist nets, painted them from life, and then released them back into the wild. Other field trips have taken him to the Yukon, much of the American west, and as far south as the Everglades. |
Russell Fink Gallery |