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Craig Zuger

Craig Zuger is a native of Oregon’s Willamette Valley where he lives with his wife, Yolanda, and their collection of animals. Zuger’s studio and home is located on more than a hundred acres of native White Oak forest that is part of a conservation effort to restore and preserve the dwindling habitat of several threatened species of plants and animals for perpetuity.

Zuger was invited to the journey of a lifetime. He would be part of a crew to retrace the homeward bound route of Lewis & Clark and do it all by canoe and horseback. Following the journals of the explorers, the trip would take six months to complete. “This trip from the Oregon coast to St. Louis, Missouri, had the most profound influence on me as an artist. I knew then that I really wanted to focus on painting the landscape.”

Over the next few years, Craig made countless trips to the wilderness with a friend and naturalist who was compiling data for Oregon field guides and books. The OPB television series, ‘Oregon Field Guide’, produced a film about his friend and the program included a feature with Craig Zuger as one of three contributing artists.

“I have painted a variety of subjects over the years, but it is my love affair with the land that continues to captivate my attention as a source for paintings. Our natural world should be as important to us as it is to animals or flowers or trees. It is critical to our survival and our souls. This is why I am so deeply inspired to paint such beauty. I will never let up in my observations, since doing so would fail my goal to depict the land as respectfully and artfully as possible.”

Represented By Galleries In: Santa Fe, NM;  Prineville, OR

‘Endeavor, painter, to make sure our works draw spectators to stop in admiration and delight.’ Leonardo da Vinci