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Juneau painter Constance Baltuck is a professional artist. She'sbeen crafting fine works for decades and can make a living sellingher creations. But her definition of an artist is much broader thansomeone who sells pretty pictures. She sees art and artistseverywhere she goes. "Anyone who practices art is an artist," Baltuck said. "Even ifsomeone wished they were doing art, I consider them an artist." Last summer, when Baltuck volunteered to be the very firstartist-in-residence at Kobuk Valley National Park, which entailedtwo weeks in the Arctic wilds with a team of bear biologists andhelpers, she really wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into. "I went through the usual 'Oh my God, I can't believe I said I'd dothis,'" she recalled on the phone from Juneau. "But I couldn't notsay 'yes' with such an adventure on the horizon." Baltuck has been in Alaska since 1981, but has never strayed veryfar from her home in Juneau where she landed three decades ago fromMichigan. She has always been artistically inclined and grew updrawing and painting with her siblings and her dad. In August, Baltuck packed up a barebones supply of paintingaccoutrements and headed with a small crew to the Great Kobuk SandDunes, a 20,500-acre area located east of Kotzebue, 40 miles abovethe Arctic Circle in the Kobuk Valley National Park. The idea of bringing an artist to this ongoing bear-count study inthe Arctic was put into motion by National Park Service biologistMarci Johnson, who has been studying bear populations in the parkand had heard of scientists recruiting artists to join in remotestudies elsewhere in the state. The idea behind the nation-wideprogram is that an artist trades one piece of art for chance totravel into the wilderness. The trip gives the artists theinspiration and time to complete as many works as they want thatcan later be sold or displayed as long as one is given back to thatparticular agency. Currently any works that are given back will behung in the Heritage Center in Kotzebue. The artist-in-residence program has been happening in various parksand forests statewide for several years and involves collaborationbetween a number of agencies, said Linda Jeschke, Chief ofInterpretation for the Western Arctic National Parklands. "A lot of parks have had artists in residence, but this was ourfirst foray into the program," Jeschke said of Baltuck's trip intoKobuk. And, Jeschke said, they've already got a couple other trips in theworks. In August, Kotzebue artist Elaine Phillips will join the ParksService on a trip to Onion Portage and perhaps later in the fall, adifferent artist will be invited to either float the Noatak Riveror backpack through the Noatak National Preserve. While creating about 90 percent of the time, artists are also onhand to help out with light camp duties. The artist-in-residenceprogram has also proved to be a way for artists to be completelyengrossed in the surroundings they want to capture on canvas. "The hardest thing for me at first was that I haven't beenback-packing for several years," Baltuck confessed, adding that shegot stronger as the days wore on. The crew, which included severaldogs used to sniff out bear scat that the biologists used tocollect DNA, had to move camp several times during the excursion,sometimes hiking for several hours to get to the next food cache. "It was like being on another planet," Baltuck said. "And that windwas constant. The clouds were in constant motion and moving all thetime, it was amazing." Each day, Baltuck would have breakfast with the troop and then headoff into the wild to find a suitable painting spot. Occasionally,she'd head out after dinner to paint again. That was her life fortwo weeks: camping and painting. "It was great to be able to have that kind of focus," Baltuck said,adding that there was only one day of foul weather that kepteveryone in their tents. Though she expected the Dunes and surrounding tundra to perhaps bea little limited for painting matter, it was quite the opposite,she said. "It was amazing to see so many wildflowers and their adaptation toliving there. You could see storms off in the distance, and therainbows .. I was surrounded by this enormous sky (and) hugevistas and the treasures of these little details. It wasfascinating; I was blown away." Capturing these details and expanses took a lot of planning. Howdoes an artist carry all her many supplies on her back? A littleAlaska ingenuity, that's how. Baltuck rolled up large sheets of canvas and brought a few spreaderbars to make a temporary frame wherever she was painting. And sinceacrylic paint dries relatively quickly, she was able to roll up herworks in progress at end of each day to hike back to camp. Challenged again by which colors to pack, Baltuck kept it simple.She brought her three favorite colors magenta, a warm yellow and arich blue and a tube of white to lighten her palette and achievesome warmer, muted tones. Though she mostly paints outside where she lives in Juneau, it wasquite a unique experience being complete immersed in thewilderness. "Working outside, in the desert, wasn't a huge leap for me but thebig difference was having to stretch out my canvas every time andthe experience of being outside all the time, day and night. Havingthe outdoors and art be so intertwined ... it was amazing." While in the park, Baltuck worked on several pieces, but it wasn'tuntil months later that she completed them, one by one, at home.She donated one of her works to the park and is on display at theNorthwest Arctic Heritage Center in Kotzebue. Also, as a way togive back, Baltuck hosted a painting workshop in Kotzebue after hertime in the park. About 25 locals attended to see "just what theheck I was doing up there," Baltuck laughed. Artists then got totake home a small selection of paints so they could continuepainting at home, or in the wilderness. "I was so impressed with how Marci and the Park Service brought thecommunity together for art in the park. I encouraged people torecord their adventures in a sketch book. Observing yoursurroundings and recording your impressions of a place, it fixes itin your brain," Baltuck said. "This experience has really inspiredme to have more adventures of this nature. "What a fantastic way to experience another part of the world." Read more about her adventure and view a gallery of images createdin the park at. This article was originally published in The Arctic Sounder and is republished here with permission. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Body Slimming Gel Manufacturer , Botanical Weight Loss Pills for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Male Sex Pills.
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