Byron Birdsall

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]

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
Spouse(s)Lynn Birdsall
Billie Birdsall
Children1 son, 1 daughter

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.
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References
  1. Caldwell, Suzanna (December 5, 2016). "Byron Birdsall, renowned and prolific watercolor artist, dies at 78". Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  2. Black, Gary (December 4, 2016). "Famed Alaska watercolorist Byron Birdsall dies at 78". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
  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. 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. "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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