Richard (Rick) Schanche, pronounced "Skankie", works primarily in watercolor and mixed media. Two trips to the McNeil River Bear Sanctuary have provided inspiration for his numerous bear paintings. Rick has also painted other series, including abstracts, the homeless, religious deities, shamans, and Indians. Rick's work is included in corporate and private collections in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Anchorage, Canada, and Norway. He is originally from Minneapolis, of Norwegian descent. He studied art at the University of Oregon, Eugene, from 1972-78. While there he earned a Bachelor of Fine Art and won the Johnston-Halley Scholarship of Fine Art. He is represented at galleries in Anchorage, Seward, Haines, Juneau, and Homer, Alaska. Rick has lived in Anchorage since 1985, with his wife and two children, and enjoys adventuring throughout Alaska.