Jerry Iverson
Paint Your Life
The paintings in this show have been buried for a long time.
Big Timber, Montana
I was raised on a farm in South Dakota. The 1960's were a wild, but hopeful time to come of age. Vietnam, JFK, MLK, Dylan, Beatles, Stones, Jimi, James Brown all entered even the milkbarns of Dakota. In 1969, upon turning 18, I registered for the draft as a conscientious objector. I went to St. Olaf college in Minnesota and studied philosophy. During my summers at school, I had the great fortune to get a job working on a cattle ranch near Big Timber.
After graduation, I drifted around a couple years, then moved to Big Timber, and learned how to shear sheep and pack horses. Though I had always liked art and had visited some of the great museums, I was never interested in making art. It wasn't until spending many summers in the solitude of Absaroka Beartooth wilderness sheep camps, that I started to draw and paint. Why? I don't know for sure, partly from inspiration of dramatic beauty and severe weather, and partly from just plain curiosity and lots of time.
It was satisfying to try to represent a thought or an observation. Eventually, I wanted to share these thoughts and observations with others, so I contacted a dear artist friend from my college days. I sent him photographs of this art. His response was enthusiastic, encouraging, and he gave me some advice, "Paint your life".
Paint your life.So I did. I made colorful, figurative oil paintings of things I saw and places I visited. At the same time, I made abstract, black and white expressions of thoughts and emotions. The figurative oil paintings were about my outside world, and the black and white abstractions were about my inside world. I'm not sure why, but in 1996, I stopped using color and figure, and kept making black and white art. Hmm…. you just never know.
The paintings in this show have been buried for a long time. It's been fun to see them again and reflect upon those days.
Installation views
Rancher, philosopher, painter.
I was born in 1951 and raised on a farm in South Dakota. In 1974, I received a degree in philosophy from St. Olaf College in Minnesota. While in college, I spent summers working on a ranch near Big Timber, Montana. After graduation, I moved to the Big Timber area and learned how to shear sheep and pack horses.
Inspired by the dramatic beauty of the natural landscape, and the harsh isolation of the social and political landscape, I started to make art. I was curious and intrigued by both figurative representation and abstraction, and I tried different materials and techniques to capture and tell the story of my life. The traditional route of entering juried shows and sending images to galleries led to opportunities for showing my art in Montana and in cities around the US. Art has allowed me a fascinating blend of rural and urban life.
Jerry Iverson lives and works on his ranch in Big Timber, Montana, alongside his wife Linda and their dog Pinkie and various farm animals.