Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1499272
12 WAC Magazine | wac.net Seattle artist Nick Riesland's life has taken him all around the world, and his "End(s) of the Earth" collection of oil paintings—now on display in the Grand Staircase Gallery—is an ode to the places he's been and how time can change even Earth's most deserted areas. "All the paintings are of remote places—mostly deserts—and I've been to most of them," the 73-year-old Riesland says. "Naming each piece aer world cities was my imagining what the future might hold for these places." e body of work considers climate impacts that, he says, "seem inevitable." But climate change isn't the sole point of this collection. "I hope viewers appreci- ate the composition and colors of these works," Nick says. "Each piece brings a different experience." Born and raised in California, Riesland graduated from Walla Walla University in 1975 and Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1978. Aer university, he embarked on a 34- year career in medicine that brought him to Seattle in 1988, as well as all over the globe during a 21-year tenure as a U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Medical Officer. Riesland, his wife, Joan, and kids Sam, Alexa, and Kipp lived in Sudan, Russia, ailand, Indonesia, England, Iraq, and Washington, D.C. "It was a great career and it fit our family," he says. Riesland picked up painting in his 40s. "I tried a year as an art major in college and I hated it," he says. "So, I went into medicine." He retired from that career in 2014. "It wasn't until the early 1990s, during an aernoon off from a medical meet- ing in Chicago, that I wandered into the Chicago Art Institute," he recalls. "A ret- rospective of Gerhard Richter's work was on exhibition. It was a game-changer." Riesland's "End(s) of the Earth" col- lection will be on display in the Grand Staircase Gallery through July. "Naming each piece aer world cities was my imagining what the future might hold for these places." first take staircase artist C O U R T E S Y P H O T O ( 4 ) A look into the future Take in Nick Riesland's 'End(s) of the Earth' collection u Nick Riesland's "End(s) of the Earth" collection will be viewable in the Club's Grand Staircase Gallery through July.