Todd Telander

Landscape Painter

Walla Walla, Washington

Art and the study of nature have been dual passions for Todd Telander since childhood in Chico, California at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains. After his freshman year at U.C. Davis, he transferred to the seaside town of Santa Cruz where he was inspired by the diversity and abundance of wildlife and the dramatic landscape of rocky coastline and Redwood forests. While earning degrees in Environmental Studies and Biology, he was happiest when his coursework took khim out of the classroom for field studies to the coast, mountains, and some of California’s most scenic parks. In particular, the sketches he makes of birds, plants, and insects as part of his journal became what he looked forward to working with the most. Fortuitously, he discovered a graduate-level program in natural science illustration at the same university and immediately recognized his calling as a science illustrator. Beginning freelance work with a former professor in San Francisco, he eventually obtained contracts with clients on a national and international level, providing highly rendered and scientifically accurate ink drawings and painting for the likes of museums, aquariums, zoos, field guides and other books, and numerous retail companies. Telander and his wife now operate a small gallery in downtown Walla Walla, the Telander Gallery, as Todd paints in his home studio and teaches classical painting to community members, and offers landscape painting workshops. In addition to selling existing paintings, he regularly takes on commission to suit the specific needs of collectors.