Van Zyle to sign new Iditarod poster Saturday

I interviewed internationally recognized Iditarod artist Jon Van Zyle, who will greet the public and sign this year’s Iditarod poster at Town Square Gallery in Wasilla, (next to Carrs Mall), from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday. Visit Van Zyle’s website at jonvanzyle.com.

BACH: How long has Alaska been your home?

VAN ZYLE: My mom and twin brother, Dan, started for Alaska in the mid ’50s. She always wanted to come. She raised dogs and Alaska would have suited her and (her) lifestyle. We didn’t make it. The car broke down in Colorado. Stayed there … high school, Army, a year of college, etc. I eventually came up as an executive for Sears in 1971. First (I went) to Anchorage, then to what used to be the end of the Eagle River Valley Road (10.5 Mile). Then in ’79 (moved) into Birchwood, built our studio and home. Been here ever since.

BACH: Do you favor raising dogs, racing dogs, painting dogs, or illustrating books about dogs?

VAN ZYLE: I’ve been raising dogs all my life (in kennels), “racing” since the mid ’60s. (I’ve been) painting most of my life, full time professionally, since 1975. I enjoy all of those endeavors you asked about.

Of the approximately 80 paintings I have to complete in a year for gallery and publishing contracts, only a relatively very few are of dogs. Most are scenic or wildlife, fishing, or hunting and camping. Out of the over 35 children’s and adult books I’ve illustrated, only four or five of them are of dogs.

I enjoy painting Alaska, and although all the paintings are of Alaska, we’ve managed to find an international market for them through my print publishers, book publishers, agents and galleries in the U.S. and Europe.

BACH: With you and your wife, Jona, both being artists, what is a typical day for the two of you?

VAN ZYLE: Typical day: Mornings are usually spent with our dogs in their dog lot, cleaning, watering, etc. Summer tours demand a different schedule than winter, but the mornings are usually reserved for the dogs.

Jona usually works on her art in the afternoons. I work on the business of doing business. We own four of them, all related (to) our own art, but all needing phone calls, bookkeeping and lots of attention daily. We also have many companies I license my art to. Another constant need for attention are distributors, galleries and publishers, etc.

Jona’s studio is in another part of our home, so we really aren’t ‘’together’’ in our studios when we do our art.

Dogs are fed around 8 p.m.-ish. My painting time (almost daily) is started usually around 5-ish and goes until 1 or 2 a m. We go to bed and start again.

Jona is highly trained in art and (is) a wonderful creative artist. I am ‘self-taught and, often times, rely on her expertise to solve a problem in a painting.

BACH: I know that your art has opened opportunities for you in Europe. Tell me about your excursions.

VAN ZYLE: We have major exhibitions in Europe every other year. We never leave the venues (museums and galleries in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, etc.). Our agent keeps us extremely busy during the days at the exhibitions, and in the evenings at talks to groups or other signings or appearances … 10-to-14-hour days for over a month … very tiring. So we have had very few “excursions” on our own while in Europe. We are there to work, not sightsee. Maybe someday we will go to have fun.

BACH: With all of the many honors bestowed on you as an artist, are there some accomplishments that stand out for you?

VAN ZYLE: Yes. (Being the) official Iditarod Artist, 1979 to present. This year’s official Iditarod poster will be the 36th year that I’ve done them. Induction into the Iditarod Hall of Fame, being asked to design “The Alaska Decoration of Honor” (medal to honor fallen Alaska soldiers) and our life we have created here in Alaska, to name a few.

BACH: Do you paint more people in your work, or is that my imagination?

VAN ZYLE: When I first started out painting full-time here (about 40 years ago) there were few people in the works. Only the land, etc. It wasn’t until my first Iditarod race in 1976 that people slowly crept into my art. I don’t know why. People are in a lot of my art now, at least 30 percent or 40 percent now, I guess. Maybe it is because I only paint my own experiences in Alaska, because in reality, it’s all I really know and understand. And because I experience it and understand it, (people in my art) lend more credence to the work. (There is an) image in my mind as I start a painting (that) includes me, or at least (a) person in the scene, to complete it.

Suzanne Bach, Fine Arts coordinator at Mat-Su College and guest writer for the Frontiersman, can be reached at creative@alaska.com.