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Painting in Wrangell/Saint Elias National Park. Photo by Coert Olmsted.
Artist's Statement
Each summer I go deep into the wilderness of Alaska's mountains to paint. I spend my time chasing light and dancing shadow, trying to capture the dynamic richness of this spare and wonderful northern landscape. Working in the endless light of the arctic summer is my wellspring; it grounds me for the flights of introspection that occupy me in the studio during the majority of the year when it is too cold to paint outside. I reflect on my summer experiences when I make prints and intensely colored paintings on canvas and carved metal, fusing the figure with the landscape. This cycle of renewal has been repeated and refined over a number of years. My memories of the summer provide concrete grounding for the work I do during the winter, and the insights and technical experiences gained each winter are reflected in turn the next summer.
Biography
I have been going into the wilderness for the past 20 years to witness the landscape by painting and drawing what it is like to be there in mind and body. I commit to this venture so long as I am able. This is my beacon, the measure against which all the rest of my art must stand. When I'm out in the landscape I wait until the land seems to move; to come alive. I start to see geological processes and personalize them. I feel how the land folds back onto itself, touching one part to another like a blow; like a caress; like hands rubbing against the cold... And then there's the light, and the clouds blowing and dancing in the sky. I paint all day, most every day. It is enormously satisfying to finish a large canvas in the field; the more difficult the subject matter, and the more challenging the terrain the better. Sometimes I force myself to break away and explore. Then I sketch and take panoramic photographs. The photographs are not source material for my paintings, but rather material for another kind of art, one of immersion in virtual reality, or for web presentation, or as very large photographic prints. The sketches, journals, and panoramas are source material for other paintings, prints and very large-scale works on forged and carved copper and bronze.
| University of Alaska Fairbanks Art Professor 1967-69; 1977-2000 | Arctic Region Suprcomputing Center 2000-2006 | Visualization Researcher, BLUI project 1997 - 2006 |
| The Alaska House Gallery | Stephan Fine Arts Gallery |
| Brooklyn Museum | Arizona State University |
| Neville Museum | University of Alaska Museum |
| University of Alaska Fairbanks | Fairbanks North Star Borough |
| St. Lawrence University | Queensborough Community College |
| Anchorage Museum of History and Art | Oklahoma State University |
| Portland Art Museum | Southern Illinois University |
| Alaska State Art Bank | Alaska State Court |
| Kenai Borough | Robert Draft, Architects |
| Numerous public and private collections | Kensington Publishing |
Rabinowitz Courthouse, 28’ w x 4’ h carved and painted copper. Fairbanks, Alaska 2001.
Hutchison Technology Center, two carved and painted bronze panels each 13.5’ w x 4’ h x 2’d.
Fairbanks, Alaska 2005.
Kenai Borough School District, 44"w x 72" h oil painting. Soldatna, Alaska 2005
Alaska State Virolgy Laboratory, 12' w x 4' h oil painting. Fairbanks, Alaska 2008
Talkeetna Middle/Senior High School, 10'w x 4'h acrylic on carved naval bronze. Commissioned for Talkeetna, Alaska 2009
The Explorer's Club
Northwest Print Council
Los Angeles Printmakers
Salmagundi Club
Smithsonian Exhibition of Contemporary Alaskan Art, Washington, D. C.
Wignalls Museum at Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, California
Anchorage Museum of History and Art, Anchorage, Alaska
University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska
Graham Gallery, New York, New York
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska
Queensborough Community College, Queens, New York
Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art Biennial, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Print Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Brooklyn Museum Biennial, Brooklyn, New York, catalog reproduction
Los Angeles Printmakers, Los Angeles, California, award, catalog reproduction
Chautauqua National, Chautauqua, New York, award
Boston Printmakers, Boston, Massachusetts, catalog reproduction
Harrisburg National, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, awards
Mini-Print International of Caldaques, Barcelona, Spain, catalog reproduction
Salon du Portrait de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, award
Prints and the Paper, San Diego, California, award
Cheekwood National, Nashville, Tennessee, catalog reproduction
Cimmeron Biennial, Stillwater, Oklahoma, award
Northwest Print Council / China Print Exchange
I have been professionally active since 1964 as an artist, professor, curator, mentor, and technological innovator in fields as diverse as printmaking and virtual reality programming.