Byron Birdsall
BornDecember 18, 1937
Buckeye, Arizona, U.S.
DiedDecember 4, 2016(2016-12-04) (aged 78)
[Whidbey Island, Washington ], U.S.
Alma materSeattle Pacific University
Stanford University
OccupationPainter
Spouses
  • Lynn Birdsall
  • Billie Birdsall
Children1 son, 1 daughter

Byron Birdsall (December 18, 1937 – December 4, 2016) was an American painter. He was "one of Alaska's most renowned watercolorists" according to the Alaska Dispatch News.[1]

Early life

Byron Birdsall was born on December 18, 1937, in Buckeye, Arizona.[1][2][3] He grew up in Los Angeles, California,[3] where his father was a Christian minister.[1]

Birdsall graduated from the Seattle Pacific University and Stanford University.[3]

Career

Birdsall started his career as a history teacher in California.[1] After teaching for six years, he worked in advertising in Alaska.[1]

Birdsall was a prolific painter in Alaska for five decades.[1] He painted landscapes and portraits, both in watercolour and oil paintings.[1][2][4] He did many paintings of Anchorage.[5]

Birdsall did prints from the early part of his career onwards. For example, he designed a limited edition of 500 prints for the commemoration of the dedication of the Russian Bishop's House in 1988.[6] Meanwhile, in 1991, Birdsall designed stamps for the state of Alaska.[7] At the Seward Music & Arts Festival in Seward, Alaska in September 2015, he did a mural with 50-60 volunteers representing two kayakers at the Aialik Glacier for the main building of the Kenai Fjords National Park.[8]

Birdsall was the author of several art books.[9]

Personal life and death

Birdsall was married twice. With his first wife Lynn, who was a watercolourist,[9] he had a son, Joshua, and a daughter, Courtenay.[1] After his first wife died of cancer in 1998, he married Bilie, with whom he resided in Anchorage, Alaska and on Whidbey Island in Washington.[1]

Birdsall died of heart failure on December 4, 2016.[1][2][5]

Works

  • Birdsall, Byron (1985). The art of Byron Birdsall : an evolution. Anchorage, Alaska: Artique Ltd. OCLC 50771958.
  • Birdsall, Byron (1993). Byron Birdsall's Alaska and other exotic worlds. Portland, Oregon: Graphic Arts Center. ISBN 9780945397168. OCLC 27034225.
  • Birdsall, Byron; Garvey, Mike (2009). People of the Saltchuk : paintings by Byron Birdsall. Seattle, Washington: Documentary Media. ISBN 9781933245171. OCLC 405107116.
  • Birdsall, Byron; Stabenow, Dana (2015). Byron Birdsall's Alaska. Portland, Oregon: Alaska Northwest Books. ISBN 9781941821503. OCLC 894308011.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Caldwell, Suzanna (December 5, 2016). "Byron Birdsall, renowned and prolific watercolor artist, dies at 78". Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Black, Gary (December 4, 2016). "Famed Alaska watercolorist Byron Birdsall dies at 78". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Woodward, Kester (2000). Painting Alaska. Anchorage, Alaska: Alaska Geographic Society. pp. 70–71. ISBN 9781566610513.
  4. ↑ Adams, Annmarie; McMurry, Sally, eds. (1997). Exploring everyday landscapes. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. p. 175. ISBN 9780870499838. OCLC 38224052.
  5. 1 2 Maxwell, Lauren (December 5, 2016). "Byron Birdsall, watercolor painter of Alaska scenes, dies". KTVA. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Birdsall Art to Commemorate Dedication of Bishop's House". Daily Sitka Sentinel. October 7, 1988. p. 22. Retrieved December 15, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "State Stamps Commemorating Alaska Highway Makes Debut". Daily Sitka Sentinel. December 9, 1991. p. 8. Retrieved December 15, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Zemach, Haidi (September 30, 2015). "Master artist Byron Birdsall's vision comes to life". Seward City News. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Alaskan Artist Byron Birdsall To Visit in Sitka". Daily Sitka Sentinel. April 8, 1993. p. 5. Retrieved December 15, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
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