End-of-the-Roaders and Art

19 February 2012
11:40 AM

Sunrise at	8:37 AM	in direction	115°	East-southeast
Sunset at	5:34 PM	in direction	245°	West-southwest

Duration of day: 8 hours, 57 minutes (6 minutes, 49 seconds longer than yesterday)

Artistic motivation abounds in Alaska and especially in this region of the Interior.  I would hazard a guess that we have more artists per capita than other regions - many of them very successful. Artistic medium ranges from water color to oil, to sculptures made from native materials. Subjects invariably revolve around our "sense of place" - what we see and appreciate daily.

I have works from watercolorists, Neville Abbott Jacobs and Gael Murakami.  I understand that Neville is no longer painting, but I do have a contact and if I come into money, I will definitely visit her to select another of her works.  The sketch I have appears to be from a view on the Tanana river, but manages to have an oriental feel.  My daughter was given a water color of break-up by Jacobs that is without a doubt, one of my favorite water color paintings of all time.  Gael specializes in small, delicate images.  I have one of hers from a series she did of Creamer's (pronounce Kray-mer) field in winter.  The former farm has been put aside as a wildlife and especially avian refuge for migrating flocks spring and fall.

Dave Mollet, professor of art at University of Alaska, Fairbanks, owns and paints for his own gallery:  Wells Street Art Co.  Native art rotates into the exhibits as well. I have one of David's oil canvases from a series painted in Denali National Park several autumns past.  My son-in-law purchased an oil-on-paper view of the Tanana River painted from a great vantage point looking toward the tri-peaks near Delta (Hayes, Deborah, and Hess).  The "Artists" tab provides names of artists who paint the region.  

Among those listed, I have works from Kes Woodward and Don Weir.  One of the most beautiful paintings of Denali is Kes's work on display at the Museum of the North in the Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery.  My painting from Woodward is also of Denali, a small painting worked in pastels.  On my living room wall is a view painted in the Nabesna region by Weir done in bold autumal colors.  His work, Afternoon Light - Firth River Valley (Yukon Territory), is one I have wanted to purchase for a while and may still if it remains available.  I also have an original oil by John Bestard, Hot Spot, showing one bright shaft of late light in the fall catching golden grass and the remaining red of fireweed stems.

I do not have an original by Clare Fejes, who is probably the most famous of Alaskan resident artists.  Her daughter owns Alaska House Art Gallery who writes that the gallery is "dedicated to preserving and promoting the art of Alaska".  My daughter has a lovely print, winter hues of pink, white, violet, and blue depicting native women and children at work in the village - as so many of her pieces do.

If you ever get up this way - be sure to check out the galleries.  If I remember, I will grab my trusty camera and capture some of the sculpture pieces that reside around town and on campus.