Forest Hembree
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Forest Hembree is an
emerging voice in Alaskan wildlife art focusing especially on the rich natural
preserve of the Alaskan Southeast, also known as the "panhandle." His work is
distinctive for its use of light as a means of revealing the web of connections
between the animals and their natural environment and for the exceptionally fine
brushwork and shading through which he achieves an almost photographic accuracy
of detail. But technical mastery is not an end in itself. Forest explains, "I
want my paintings to carry the viewer beyond mere 'realism' into an experience
of beauty that people don't normally see. In this way, every painting is an
adventure that lifts the viewer beyond the everyday.
Forest grew up in Hoonah,
Alaska, a small town on Chichagoff Island, where he was influenced by the
respect for nature exemplified by the Tlingit people. As a teenager, he fished
commercially and absorbed whatever training was available to him through local
artists and craftspeople. Later, he studied at the University of Alaska. Over
the past ten years, Forest has enjoyed a steady increase in recognition.
His painting "Hazard Pay"
was selected as the official print for the Haines Eagle Festival in 2002. Shown
and sold in galleries throughout Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, his work is
also now beginning to appear in collections of public art. Forest lives and
works in Juneau with his wife, Barbara. |
LLC