In February of 2002, Dustin Van Wechel left a successful 8-year career in the advertising industry to pursue his true passion, fine art, full-time.

Since then, Dustin has won numerous awards including the prestigious 2004 Wyoming Conservation Stamp Art Competition, the Wildlife Award and Teton Lodge Company Award at the 2006 Arts for the Parks competition, and he's recieved awards in several leading art publications as The Artist’s Magazine, The Pastel Journal,

and Drawing Magazine. His work has been exhibited all throughout the U.S., including one-man shows and major art exhibitions, as well as in the National Museum of Wildlife Art's Western Visions show in Jackson, Wyoming.

Dustin is a signature member in both the Society of Animal Artists and the Pastel Society of America. He and his wife, Yvonne, currently reside in Phoeinx, Arizona.