Eastern Iowa artist with studio in Lansing releases new book of landscape paintings

Fred Easker ...
Fred Easker ...
... and his new book ...
... and his new book ...

Eastern Iowa artist Fred Easker’s landscape paintings offer an extraordinary view into what is too often considered ordinary. Most often drawing on familiar sites in the backroads of his native Eastern Iowa, he celebrates both the aesthetics and the character of place and offers a keen meditation on the power, vulnerability and eloquence of land and relationships to it.

His landscape paintings are on full display in a new book “Connected to Place Landscape Paintings.” The book is in landscape page format of 11 inches wide by 8-1/2 inches tall to give the reader/viewer the largest view. Some images spread across both pages giving a full view of Easker’s work. The book includes commentary by Joni Kinsey, Professor of Art History at the University of Iowa, and other art professionals.

Easker paints from photographs he takes on “discovery” drives, but his finished images are more than painted photographs. The artist points to what has occurred as the image has evolved and the contemplation has developed; a transformation has taken place that distinguishes the painting from both the site and the photograph. The final images are meticulous in their detail but more painterly than they appear at first glance; more important, they have a new identity. In addition to seasonal views, the artist also creates images of northeast Iowa and the Driftless Area along the Mississippi River to which he has had a connection to nearly 15 years.

Easker’s paintings are included in museum, corporate and private collections throughout the Midwest and have appeared in a number of periodicals and books. He was featured on Iowa Public Television and more recently completed a commissioned painting for the General Services Administration in the United States Federal Courthouse in Cedar Rapids. Over the span of his career, he has worked with private galleries in New York, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Tulsa, Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. The artist holds a BA and MA in Art Education from the University of Iowa.

For more information about “Connected to Place Landscape Paintings” by Fred Easker, contact Penfield Books at www.penfieldbooks.com or 1-319-337-9998. For more information about Fred Easker and his artwork, visit his website at http://www.easkerart.com or call 1-319-360-8274. Easker’s studio is located in Cedar Rapids and he also maintains Easker Art Studio and Gallery in Lansing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday the first two weekends of each month or by appointment.