Glen Kessler is an artist who places the highest level of import on "craft" in the construction of his drawings and paintings. Having trained at The New York Academy of Art, the country's only graduate school singularly focused on traditional painting, as well as The Maryland Institute College of Art, typically ranked among the top three art schools in the country, Kessler regards great artwork as that which synthesizes superior skill with unique and relevant concepts.

Kessler has always worked in a variety of technical modes and from a variety of subjects. One can see this in the great range of his paintings, from 2-hour plein air landscapes to painstaking replicas of Old Master paintings to 500-hour studio masterpieces.

Kessler’s work has garnered numerous awards including 2 Elizabeth Greenshields Grants, Yale University at Norfolk Fellowship, Prince of Wales Fellowship for study at the Forbes Mansion in Balleroy, France, and over a dozen Best In Show awards. His works are in the public collections of Walt Whitman High School, Maryland Institute College of Art, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Boston University, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, HRH The Prince of Wales, and many private collections around the world.

As an educator Kessler believes that all students are capable of achieving a superior level of skill and artistic understanding. He places little stock in the notion of inborn talent, favoring an appreciation of the results of hard-work and humble self-examination. His teaching style is based around establishing good habits with proper techniques, and an empathetic, highly individualized relationship to his students. This combination of teaching abilities has garnered him top reviews from his students at Maryland Institute College of Art, George Mason University, George Washington University, and The Yellow Barn Studio.