Woody Jackson lives in Vermont with his four children, Kelsey, Bjorn, Leif, Macon and his Standard Poodle, Willie. He finds Vermont is home for the soul as well as the body. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1970 and received a master's degree in fine arts from Yale School of Art in 1980. Famous for Holstein cow paintings, he is the self-proclaimed originator of the "cowmania" that has dominated the latter part of the 20th century. Not all of his paintings involve cows, as evidenced by his intensely hued watercolors of churches and landscapes of New Mexico. Woody has recently embarked on a new career as a writer, having authored the children's book Counting Cows; he is now working on its sequel, The Cow's Alfalphabet. Woody Jackson's company, Holy Cow, Inc., markets his cow goods worldwide.

"All my artwork has always been inspired by the land, from apple orchards, vegetables gardens, New Mexico deserts, dairy farms, and even the New York City waterfront. The land in turn is changed and inspired by time and the seasons. The light is different through the day and month to month. As I write this, it's the first day of summer, and nature is luxuriant with greens and slashes of color of flowers blooming. But it's not just the visuals but the sounds and smells of the seasons that propel us forward or back into revelry. The lilacs, the peonies and now the roses fill the air, the birds wake us and the wind rushes through the leaves. It's a multimedia symphony of sensations. I love every month and its music. 1998 will be full of wonder from the ordinary to the sublime. My...[artwork]... celebrates both from the perspective of the dairy cows of Vermont. They provide us with the beautiful landscapes of our farms and the architecture of our barns, not to mention the rich cream, milk and cheese. The farmers are at the mercy of the weather and the seasons that nature gives us. I hope that nature is bountiful for us all in the coming year, and that your days are full and cherished. May the cows be with you."