Grey Heron Studios was founded in 2019 by Jackie Baum, Jim Baum, and Lori Blackwell. The mission of Grey Heron is twofold — produce and sell artworks of all kinds, and encourage everyone to explore their creative voices, no matter how late in life they begin. We firmly believe it’s never too late to create.
Grey Heron Bios
Jackie worked at Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) for more years than she likes to admit, in addition to raising a son, Kevin (with Jim). Kevin is all grown up with a family of his own, and Jackie has left the aerospace industry behind for life as an extraordinary artist. She went from decorating cakes to working in a craft store, but painting was calling her. She began by painting gorgeous landscapes, mainly in oils. But in the past year, she has really spread her creative wings, exploring all sorts of subjects and media, from still life to animal portraits to fanciful creatures that will be featured in a series of books starting in 2020. (Stay tuned!) Beyond oils, she likes to work watercolor, inks, acrylics and mixed media. And tries her hand at whatever interests her at any given moment. You can find her work here on this site, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter (see contact page for links).
Jim is a fantastic photographer who originally tried to hide his talent from us. Once we discovered his gorgeous photographs, particularly of his travels with Jackie (as well as anything that catches his eye), he was finally convinced he had to share his work. He also makes custom frames for the artwork on this site (and any other artwork, by request). He is a retired engineer, so he brings creativity and precision to everything he does. He also manages the business side of Grey Heron, and keeps us all on target and supplied with art tools. When he’s not running the show here, he can be found on the golf course.
Beside creating new projects every day, Jackie and Jim spend their energies traveling the globe, taking care of their amazingly sweet dog, Shadow, and hanging out with family, especially their son, Kevin, his wife Melissa, and a trio of smart and lovely grandkids, Emma, Eleanor, and Lucy.
Lori Blackwell is a mixed media artist and writer, as well as the web master for Grey Heron. (And sister to Jackie, by the way.) She spent her career first in information systems in a massive law firm in Chicago, then in writing and producing marketing materials for a medical company. She now devotes her time to writing, drawing, painting, making collages and assemblages, and basically glues things on other things to relax. She runs another web site, perceptivision.org, where she posts articles, commentary and poetry, as well as additional artwork, and encourages women artists to find their voices, speak up, be loud. She also is a health advocate, political junkie, proud mama to two 14-year old kitties, and being a romantic (with a new boyfriend! Yes, kids, it’s evidently never too late for love.). She also tries not to annoy Jackie and Jim with all her philosophical discussions of art and life.
Where We’re Headed
We will be growing by leaps and bounds in 2020, adding resources to the site, visiting other studios, galleries and festivals, and adding all sorts of products to our online store. So check out our news page to keep up with all the changes, and be sure to contact us if you have any questions or comments.