‘An image that tells a story’

“Stories of Alaska” is a body of watercolor paintings that depicts northern landscapes and wildlife and showcases artist Bruce Sink’s passion for nature. Featuring bears, boats, caribou, cranes, otters and others, all work in the exhibit is available by on-site silent auction bidding through the month of October, with proceeds being donated to Homer’s Community Food Pantry, a local non-profit the artist has long supported.

An avid outdoorsman who has traveled the world, Sink focuses his work on control of light, color, texture, brush strokes and composition, creating dramatic watercolor images with a nod to simplicity. He has exhibited his work extensively around the United States and is a member of numerous watercolor societies, including the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Alaska Watercolor Society, Kachemak Bay Watercolor Society and Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, teaches painting workshops and judges art exhibits from beginner-level through very skilled painters in both Alaska and Arizona, where he and his wife Mary divide their time.

Sink’s journey into the world of art began at a very young age. Raised in a military family who moved often, he started drawing when he was six years old as a way to pass the time.

“My father was a soldier in the Army for 44 years and we moved a great deal, 11 times in 17 years,” Sink said. “All the moving made it very hard to have friends, and a great deal of time I would just sit someplace and draw in a yellow tablet.”

He began painting when he was 10 years old, when his grandmother gave him a paint-by-number painting of a horse.

“I was so proud to give it to her when it was done and she hung it on the wall,” he said.

“I continued to draw and paint whenever I could. When other kids were playing sports, I was drawing. Throughout the five different high schools I attended, I would go to the art room during study halls.”

With support from his art teachers, the young artist compiled a portfolio and submitted it for a scholarship to Columbus College of Art and Design, and found creative success early on.

“I was selected to be one of five Ohio artists to be featured in the grand opening of the new wing at the Columbus Museum of Art,” he said. “At the time, I was only 20 years old, and the other four individuals were all professional artists. I was very honored to have been selected to such an important event and that several of my pieces sold.”

Since that time, Sink has studied under several well-known artists, including Robert Bateman, Morten Solberg, Arron Blaise, Antonio Masi, Greg Beecham and many others. His work has been included in several national and international shows, including the American Watercolor and National Watercolor Society show. In 2007, his oil painting, “Hallo Bay Bear,” showing a brown bear eating cucumber grass, was featured in the Wildlife Art Magazine. In 2015, his painting of a school of sockeye salmon he had seen on the Kenai River the previous summer won the American Fisheries Society poster contest. In 2016, he was the Artist in Residence for the Alaska State Parks Department at the Earnest Gruening State Park in Juneau, where he created several paintings, including of Stellar sea lions, black bears, ravens, eagles, squirrels, chum salmon, fishing boats and humpback whales. In 2019, his watercolor painting, “Ravens,” was featured in the French Magazine “WATERCOLOUR,” and later that year, his acrylic painting of a charging elephant won first place in the 2019 Glendale Arizona Art Exhibit.

Today, Sink is in his 70s and continues to work in a variety of mediums, including sculpture, carving and stained glass, as well as painting in oils, acrylics and watercolor, with watercolor being a favorite.

“I work in all mediums, but I love watercolor the best,” he said. “When I was 15 years old, I was so inspired when I saw a watercolor show by Andrew Wyeth. I’d studied many artists like John Pike and Ted Kowski, painting every image in the books to try and learn all I could, but Andrew Wyeth’s work moved me in how he took everyday places, items and people and told a story. I studied every painting he did that was published and I tried to copy them all to learn all that I could.”

Most of Sink’s paintings begin as abstracts.

“I paint because I love to create,” he said. “I love to watch a white piece of paper or canvas turn into an image that tells a story, and I can usually see the image in my mind before I lay it down on the abstract. I usually select two or three colors and simply start applying colors in shapes on paper, then add water and move the color around by tilting the paper. Sometimes I’ll add small sprits of water just before it dries to create little start shapes.

”Once the painting dries, I rotate it around until I find the best image and then decide what I’m going to put on the abstract. I usually do a detailed image on the abstract and allow part of the abstract to make up the image and change my shapes into forms. I keep my pallet limited in hues, but I do have a dominate, secondary and accent color. I love to use triad color patterns and complementary colors.”

With “Stories of Alaska,” Sink wanted to share some of his experiences in Alaska from the past 26 years, at first as a visitor, and then a resident.

“I have been fortunate to have traveled and spent a great deal of time in most of Alaska, and I wanted to create a show that shared the many unique environments and inhabitants of Alaska,” he said. “Each piece was done to stand on its own merit. I used photo references I had taken and also from my memory.”

In this exhibit, his painting, “The Abandoned Boat,” shows one of the derelict boats on the Homer Spit.

“I always loved abandoned items. I think it came from leaving so many locations growing up, because I always felt like I was abandoning the place we were leaving,” he said. “The abandoned boat was actually sitting around several others just kind of dumped there, and I thought it deserved to be set on its own so people could make up their own stories about it.”

Another painting, “The Alaska Railroad,” depicts Alaska’s famous yellow and blue train.

“The Alaska Railroad has always been so beautiful to me,” he said. “When I see it going through the mountains, I always admire it. It is a key part of what makes Alaska what it is.”

Among the numerous wildlife scenes he is showcasing are several paintings of bears, including “Katmai Bears,” painted from photos took during his numerous times bear viewing at Hallo Bay and Brooks Falls between 2005 and 2021.

“Katmai bears were amazing to watch as the mother guided the little bears, giving a violent nudge when the little ones walked too far away or did something she did not like,” he said.

Having painted for more than 60 years, Sink continues to hone his skills and study and learn about art from other accomplished artists.

“One of my challenges has been moving out of my comfort zone,” he said. “A friend from art school encouraged me to paint what I don’t know or like, telling me that if I only paint what I know, I’m not learning, and that I need to paint what I have challenges with. So, I took his advice and started painting things I wasn’t good at, and it made me a much better artist and forced me to learn about things I didn’t understand.”

While he has received numerous awards and accolades throughout his long art career, recognition is not something Sink has sought out. Instead, he strives for his work to touch others, like a painting he made from a scene in Delaware County, Ohio, more than 40 years ago.

“I did a painting of an old, rotting white wicker swing that was on the porch of an abandoned home, and I painted it thinking about all the children that must have enjoyed it,” he said. “At the opening of the show where it was featured, an older couple came up to me and told me they purchased the painting, and that the swing was where he had asked her to marry him and where she had said yes. That brought tears to my eyes.”

With his creativity, Sink also strives to help others, using proceeds of sales of his art to help local food banks.

“I’ve been donating to food pantries for years, including Homer,” he said. “I feel that many of the issues in the world are based on the lack of food and that people will do most anything to feed their families. I am grateful to do what I can to help.”

Sink’s work can be found online at brucesink.com. “Stories of Alaska” can be viewed through October at Fireweed Gallery, located at 475 E. Pioneer Avenue. Gallery hours are Mondays to Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit the gallery online at fireweedgallery.com.

“Homer Otters” is a watercolor painting by artist Bruce Sink on display through October in his solo exhibit at Fireweed Gallery. Photo provided by Fireweed Gallery