Several months ago, I was at work in my studio when I received a call from Gretchen Gordon, Assistant General Manager and Director of Development and Outreach for our extraordinary local public broadcasting station, KUAC, asking if they could use an image of one of my paintings for their 2017 poster. I was thrilled at the prospect--honored to have one of my artworks associated with the essential role KUAC plays in our community.
I told Gretchen they should go to my website and select any image they wanted. They chose Daybreak, a painting I completed last November. It is a view of the winter sun, low on the horizon, blasting through the trees in our front yard like an epiphany. It is a scene at which I marvel each time Dorli and I return from our every-other-morning runs on the trails out our back door in the boreal forest, and I almost invariably stand for a few moments and drink in that sunlight, before re-entering our home.
This past Saturday I signed posters steadily, for four hours, for a long line of supporters of KUAC who were willing to donate $50 each to the station for the great work they do. Many, perhaps most, of those individuals and families had contributed to KUAC already this year, but they were willing to give even more in order to receive a poster and support the work of KUAC.
The owner of the painting, who luckily lives in Fairbanks, allowed us to borrow the painting itself for display at the event. I saw scores of old friends and made new ones, and it was an utter delight to be able to contribute in a small way to KUAC--one of the key organizations that make life in Fairbanks and Interior Alaska so rich and full.
All photos of the event are courtesy of KUAC TV.
As part of their outstanding promotion of the poster and signing event, KUAC produced a terrific, short video about me and my work. The station's television producer Mak Landry and her staff members Brian and Heather spent a half day in my studio--lighting the space and asking me questions, conversationally and more formally, and from those several hours' work they distilled this delightful 4-minute profile:
Well Street Art Gallery, which generously hosted the signing event, displayed in addition to the painting on the poster three small paintings I've completed in the last month, since Dorli and I returned from a four-week trip to Australia.
Like Daybreak, these small paintings celebrate the magical light of our Northern winter and the returning light of spring.
Promise ©Kesler Woodward 2017 acrylic on canvas 8" x 8" (image)
Solstice ©Kesler Woodward 2017 acrylic on canvas 10" x 20" (image)
Spring in the North ©Kesler Woodward 2017 acrylic on canvas 20" x 10" (image)
