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Estate for Linda K. Powell
Manitou Springs, CO 80829
www.kassj.com/lkpowell/
The information contained on these web pages was written and designed by Kass Johns with the permission of the Estate of Linda K Powell. Kass is the auther of her official biography as well as the original manager for the Linda K. Powell Gallery. Kass had been a fan of Linda's since the age of 12 and then went on to become her "legacy protector" when she, herself worked at Current as a designer and also created the Art Vault used by Current to protect and repurpose the original art used for all of their products. She became a friend of Linda's through a mutual best friend (and fellow designer), Sandy Laxson.
For further information email
Kass at: lkp at kassj dot com
Linda K. Powell, also known as LKPowell and LKP, was one of the nation's most beloved wildlife and nature illustrators. Linda passed away in September 2004. She rarely sold her originals to clients or in a gallery. Because she licensed her illustrations rather than sell them, this left her in possession of almost all of her original art. Her beautifully detailed art has attracted many fans over her 35-plus years as an illustrator.
Many people recognize the "cute mice" note cards she did when she was an artist for Current in the early seventies. This could be considered the beginning of the "LKPowell Look."
Linda has always been known as a fan and benefactor to all animals, wildlife and nature. She insisted on painting each hair and feather individually. Her dedication to realism resulted in her self-education of animal, as well as plant, physiology, anatomy, and biology. She illustrated to the true muscle movement of every animal and plant within their own natural environment. This exhaustive research and minute attention to detail resulted in her being ranked as an internationally- recognized illustrator.
Her family had decided to make the artist's original illustrations and limited edition prints available for purchase by her many fans with a dedicated gallery in Manitou Springs, Colorado -- where Linda chose to live among her beloved Rocky Mountain wildlife. These same works were also made available at the gallery's website.
Some of Linda's high-profile clients have included the following...
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Greeting Card Companies:
- American Greetings (including her own line of Cloverleaf Lane™ products, figurines and plates)
- Current (including Current Critters™)
- Leanin' Tree
Needleart Companies:
- Dimensions
- Sunset
Other:
- National Wildlife Federation and their Ranger Rick Magazine
- Ducks Unlimited (stamps for United States Post Office)
- American Humane Society
- Unicover Corporation (collectable stamps, & postcards)
- Collectible Plates for Royal Cornwall and the Calhoun Collector's Society
- The Walt Disney Company (Linda was asked to redraw the "101 Dalmatians" as a style guide for Disney merchandising artists when they released their live-action version of the movie. The character art needed to look more realistic than the original flat-graphic cartoon art.)
Books she has illustrated:
- An American Bestiary by Jack Schaefer
- Biography of a Desert Bighorn by Barbara Steiner
- Biography of a Kangaroo Rat by Barbara Steiner
- Biography of a Kangaroo by Eleanor Coerr
- The Rabbit is Next (Little Golden Book)
- Scat! Scat! by Sally Francis
Her art is also exhibited in various collections, including the Hunt Museum for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie-Mellon University.
The extensive array of her art and prints were made available for the first time to the general public through the Linda K Powell Gallery. In 2005, her family opened a gallery in the heart of downtown Manitou Springs, Colorado, in the Lofts & Shops Building. Manitou Springs is located at the foot of "America's Mountain" -- Pikes Peak, just west of Colorado Springs, Colorado. That gallery closed three years later with a family-forced auction.
Download the official Gallery Brochure and Bio in PDF form. (3.3MB)