I was born in the uppermost corner of the fat part of Idaho 50 miles from the west entrance to Yellowstone park and 60 miles from Jackson Hole Wyoming, an area surrounded by history. My mother sparked my interest in history with the local stories of Pierre’s Hole, the mountain men, the fur rich upper snake river valley and the local Native Americans. My father worked in the woods and would help with the muscle and movement of wildlife. I was drawing mule deer before I could write. I had a picture of Santa’s sleigh being pulled by mule deer which was submitted by my first grade teacher to the local newspaper and ended up on the front page of the paper.
Every summer of my early childhood my sisters and I would live in an old sheepherders camper in the woods, while my dad sprayed D.D.T. for the rocky mountain timber beetle and logged. In our part of Idaho there were only dirt roads and trails, so we used pack horses to get into the areas where my dad was working. He would put us kids on top of the goup cans (kind of like riding a camel) giving us a bird’s eye view of the wildlife and beauty in this untouched wilderness. Few people had viewed these areas and fewer still could even imagine the untouched and undisturbed quality of the area around Ashton Idaho. The world I create with my art is the world in which I would want to live. It has the sleepiness that life used to have, that we have lost in all the fastness we live in now. For samples or upcoming show information, email lostidahoan@hotmail.com or write Gunter Fine Arts, E 360 Cedar Street/ Belfair, WA 98528.