A Skagit Valley artist in tune with the NW ecosystem of wildlife, agriculture, hydroelectric power and commerce along the Skagit River.  “This river, and the landscape through which it flows, has defined much of my thinking, values and artistic decisions. I walk daily on a trail a few steps from my studio, winding along an earthen dike that protects fertile farmland, fed by the Skagit River, from the saltwater beyond. It is a luminous, magical landscape, but it is far from wild. The dike is man-made, Navy A6s cut through the sunset and the sounds from a nearby highway can drown out the chatter of shorebirds.”

Before becoming a full-time artist worked at North Cascades Institute where she collaborated with a highly creative group of people dedicated to conservation. She also served as director of the Museum of Northwest Art  and witnessed how other Northwest artists relate their art to this environment.  “My work is inexorably linked to where I live and what I have learned here.”  http://www.krisekstrand.com