Devil’s Club forest triptych, 30 inches x 72 inches, 2020
Welcome
My watercolors focus on landscapes and architecture, primarily in my home state of Alaska. I am drawn to the simplicity and economy of watercolor. It is particularly suited to capture the light and character of my subjects and is my preferred media. I hope you enjoy my latest gallery show currently on display at the Valdez Museum, “Mountain Treasures: Kennecott, Alaska and Iceberg Lake.”
The “Mountain Treasures” show is also posted on this website. And, you can watch a short (15 min) video here of me introducing this show when it was displayed at the Cordova museum.
Below you will find links through images to more pages of my work, organized by subject matter (Glaciers, Birds, Cordova Canneries, Prince William Sound, etc.). I’d love to hear your reactions and welcome any questions you may have (click the Contact page). Thank you for visiting!
Mountain Treasures: Kennecott, Alaska and
Iceberg Lake (Show displays at the Valdez Museum - June 4-Sept. 5, 2021!)
In 2019, I received a generous individual artist award from the Rasmuson Foundation and an artist residency at the Wrangell Mountains Center. These allowed me to spend a month sketching, painting and photographing in the vicinity of Kennecott, Alaska and Iceberg lake. I want to also recognize the assistance I got from the National Park Service, Wrangell Mountain Air, and St. Elias Alpine Guides. Thanks go to my wife, Nancy Bird, who made this project possible with her historical research, editing and web mastering.
Kennecott, an early 20th century copper mine which closed in 1938, is protected by the Park Service and is a National Historic Landmark. The mine’s first shipment of ore arrived April 8, 1911 via the Copper River & Northwestern Railway in the port of Cordova, Alaska. From there it traveled by ship to the smelter in Tacoma, Washington.
Iceberg Lake was a holdout from a bygone era of immense glaciation until 1999 when it broke through its thinned glacial dam and emptied. While the beautiful lake was mostly gone, researchers were now able to scour the exposed lake bottom for evidence of the lake’s age and the effects of climate change. As a landscape watercolorist, I find the glaciers, mountains, rivers and wildlife of the area irresistible sources of inspiration and pleasure.
For several decades, I have visited the glaciated mountains and valleys, rivers, and improbable architecture at the Kennecott mine site. The mine buildings are evidence of the presence of humans but also provide scale for the enormity of the glacial landscape they inhabit. The utilitarian architecture is a rich collection of repeating motifs of vacant windows, roofs and sculptural possibilities as the buildings organically climb the mountainside. Despite their age and disuse, the buildings have withstood years of harsh climate and human neglect. We are lucky to have this landmark and the landscape it inhabits.
My paintings are not made with complete photographic accuracy in mind. Rather they are meant to express a sense of space, scale, light and my feelings toward the subject. I strive to provide the viewer with a compelling emotional experience of the subjects, a feeling of “being there.” In essence, the architecture and landscape are my muses.
