Forrest Sheperd Art Exhibition Opens at HART Space Gallery at Hopewell Animal Hospital

This month, Forrest Sheperd opens a show of his artwork at the HART Space Gallery located within the welcoming lobby space of the Hopewell Animal Hospital in Hopewell Junction. It may sound like an unusual space for an art gallery, but HART Space Gallery combines veterinarian owners Kim Buchanan's and Jerry Scheck's love of animals and their love of art. This location is perfect for an exhibit of Forrest Sheperd’s works of oil paintings of both wild and domesticated animals.

B. Forrest Sheperd trained at the Reilly League of Artists under Cesare Borgia from 1980 to 1987, mastering traditional portraiture, figure painting, and life drawing based on Frank Reilly’s methods. This foundation shapes his neo-classical realism, combining traditional material handling and form expression with a modern understanding of light. Alongside his artistic roots, Sheperd earned a Bachelor’s in Wildlife Management from SUNY-ESF and a Master’s in Wildlife Sciences from Purdue University. He built a successful career in Geographic Information Systems and later co-owned a business in New York with his wife, Hillary.

Following the sale of their business in 2024, Sheperd returned to art full-time. Working primarily from life on prepared panels and canvases, he focuses on oils, charcoal, three chalk, and watercolor, holding that the craft of drawing and painting is just as vital as the art itself.