You know those two people who are best friends for ages, finally decide they belong together, and live happily ever after?  It feels like that’s what is happening to us! 

  Welcome to the Art of the Fox blog!  I’m Joel Sheesley, an artist who is working with The Conservation Foundation and their Fox River Initiative to promote awareness of

Yesterday I drove down to Wedron and met Brook McDonald at C&M Canoe Rentals.  We spent the afternoon paddling and exploring the lower Fox River. Our plan was to stop

The solar eclipse that raced across the United States on August 21 had little visible impact on the Fox River.  The moon covered more than 80% of the sun over

One visit to Tekakwitha Woods and I knew that I wanted to make a painting there.  The woods are open under a shady canopy that allows you to see the

By mid August a red tail hawk can land and sit at the apex of our fifty foot Norway spruce and get no hassle from the robins and blue jays

From June 2016 The Fox River originates in marshland in southern Wisconsin.  Flowing down into northeastern Illinois it merges with the Chain O’Lakes, a region of glacial kettles and hills

I look at the paintings of the Fox River that I have made and I ask myself, “What do I want?  What do I want from these paintings?”  As I

 “The old countries were worn to the shape of human life, made into an investiture, a sort of second body, for man.”  Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather Aurora

“Both imagination and a competent sense of reality are necessary to our life, and they necessarily discipline one another.” – Wendell Berry,  Life Is a Miracle The very word, environmentalist,

   The Conservation Foundation has begun using the term “artist in residence” to describe my role in the Fox River Initiative.  I like the term.  A residence is stable and

 As the days begin to lengthen and the air begins to warm, our minds inevitably wander to thoughts of springtime.   I have distinct childhood memories of chasing skippers and white

It’s a little counterintuitive, but sometimes development can lead to improved natural areas on a site.  Such is the case with Atwater redevelopment project in Naperville.  More than 90 acres