James Lancel McElhinney is an Irish-American author and topographical artist whose work is focused on travel, landscape, history, and environmentalism. A Delaware Valley native, McElhinney holds degrees from Tyler School of Art (BFA) and Yale University School of Art (MFA). His early works were focused American battlefields as a metaphor for how the national landscape is shaped by conflict. In 2005, McElhinney revived the historic art-form of expeditionary journal-painting  to explore heritage itineraries, waterways, and the physical memories of human endeavor. James and his wife; cultural historian/biographer Katherine Manthorne, reside in the Champlain Valley and Manhattan with a feline named Maeve.

“I have come to regard making art as a necessity, in organizing the terror and mayhem of human existence into experiences that inspire and sustain us. Creative activity can transform our encounters with nature into knowledge and ideas—in ways that enhance environmental awareness, lead to self-discovery, foster inner peace, and deepen our respect for one another, and the world we all share.”

—James L. McElhinney © 2024