Welcome to my “Sketches of Alaska” blog.
I am an Alaskan artist, historian and writer, living in Fairbanks, the Golden Heart of Interior Alaska. My passion is sharing Alaska with others through my art and words, preserving Alaska’s history, and educating the public about the state’s historic resources.
I graduated from Alaska Methodist University (now Alaska Pacific University) in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a double major in anthropology and art. After another year of post-baccalaureate study (also in anthropology and art) at the University of Alaska, I worked for the federal government for seven years. I then switched to free-lance work.
For over 30 years I have been tramping the roads and trails of Alaska, primarily in Eastern Interior and Southcentral Alaska, documenting mining camps, homesteads, cemeteries and other sites before time, vandals and development erase them from the landscape.
My art medium of choice is pen and ink, and I primarily produce drawings of old equipment, historic structures, and other culturally significant sites. Since 2010 I have been producing a newspaper column, “Sketches of Alaska,” about historic sites around Alaska, for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.. Each of my column’s features one of my detailed pen & ink drawings of a site, plus a short essay (written by me) describing the site and its significance, and I visit every site that I draw and write about.
The column won the Alaska Historical Society’s Contributions to Alaska History award in 2011. I have produced two books based on my column, and am working on two more. At the present time I also serve on the Alaska Historical Commission.
On the pages of my blog you will find images of my art, posts about my travels around Alaska and about an artist’s life in Fairbanks, and many of my columns. I hope you enjoy my ramblings.
Mount Sanford, located in the Wrangell Mountains, as seen from the Gulkana airport near Glennallen
