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Art and Iditarod shape Rose Albert's life

March 3rd 2:16 pm | TRINA LANDLORD Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Rose Albert is the featured artist for the months of March and April at the Alaska Native Arts Foundation in downtown Anchorage. Her show, "Nowitna River Artist Rendition of the Last Great Race," illustrates through contemporary paintings the annual 1,161 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome. While working on the oil pipeline and attending the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Rose sponsored her brother to run the Iditarod. Soon after, she was inspired by the late Carl Huntington to run the race herself becoming the first Alaska Native woman to run the Iditarod in 1982.

Rose is Athabascan born in Kokrines on the Nowitna River in central Alaska, which runs through the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge and empties into the Yukon River. She was raised in Ruby, which marks the halfway point on the northern route for the sled dog race, as well as, Anchorage.

She started drawing before she could write her name. Rose started drawing angels at the age of 5, horses at 7 and wildlife throughout elementary school. When she was 14, a neighbor took her to the Anchorage Museum and she was captivated by a painting by Sidney Laurence which depicted a cabin surrounded by tall spruce trees. For Rose, it brought back memories of being out on the trap line with her family growing up. Afterward, her neighbor gave Rose her first oil painting kit and has not stopped painting since. Rose earned an associate of fine arts degree from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1981.

Rose's first painting was of a moose in the woods with mountains, birch trees and river. Her second was of wolves running in the woods. She said people would stare and stare at them and say, "I can't believe you painted those pictures." She continues to refine and improve her techniques in oil painting. Rose hopes to go from realism into impressionism and that her work stands out with fine detail.

She paints primarily in oils with the vision of recording history, people and places. Additionally, Rose has painted acrylic for special projects, carves yellow and red cedar, hemlock and pine boxes and is currently in the early stages of making jewelry. She sought out the Southeast and Northeast Native designs to bring Athabascan stories to life on deerskin drums. Rose changes images of the eagle, and killer whale as much as possible without losing the integrity of the traditional design.

She said about her roots inspiring her work, "Raised in Ruby, we did things like tanning moose hide, picking berries, fishing and whatever it took to survive. My father had us (children) help him build birch sleds, boats and fish wheels. I always had a passion for wood working and now carving and painting wildlife and famous Iditarod racers."

She hopes her paintings will be a contribution to society and an example for young aspiring artists.

Trina Landlord is a writer for the Alaska Native Arts Foundation. She can be reached at trina@alaskanativearts.org.

 


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