What do you get when you combine never-ending curiosity about the world, amazing art skills, and a love of cooking, gardening, dance and teaching? That’s just the short description of Ketchikan’s own Evon Zerbetz, who makes a living as an artist out of her studio home overlooking Nichols Passage.
Zerbetz has been an artist all her life, having sold her first work for $2 at age 10. Today she specializes in intricate linocuts that are painstakingly crafted by hand and then used to make limited edition prints and cards. Her depictions of Alaskan life – especially animals like bears, ravens and salmon – charm both children and adults in stories like “Blueberry Shoe,” “Ten Rowdy Ravens,” and “Lucky Hares and Itchy Bears.”
When she’s not carving linoleum or wood, you may find Evon on one of her many teaching gigs around the state. She’s one of Alaska’s favorite artists-in-residence, which allows her to share her passion for printmaking with students from Kindergarten on up.
Back home in Ketchikan, she kicks it up as the driving force behind our small town’s thriving dance scene. If you want to learn – waltz, two-step, jitterbug or tango – there’s a pretty good chance Evon is orchestrating a class at Boombal Dance Hall on Main Street.
And if you’re just looking for a unique peek into Alaska through the eyes of a keen observer, visit Parnussus Books for one of Evon’s titles, see a collection of her linocuts up close at the Soho Coho Gallery, or check out her prints and particular view of the world at www.evonzerbetz.com.
