by Hannelore
Sudermann
 Hall Anderson
Evon Zerbetz found her calling after college, in an art class
she was taking from Ray Troll.
Though the Alaska native attended Washington State University
the same time as Ray, the two never met. Evon was an undergraduate
majoring in food science; Ray was a grad student who spent most of
his hours in his studio.
After graduating in 1982, Evon moved home to Alaska and for a
few years tried a variety of jobs and art forms. Then one year, she
took Ray’s class at the University of Alaska and discovered the
medium that has brought her success: linocut prints.
“I guess you could say I was Ray’s protégé,” says Evon, tucking
her long sandy blond hair behind her ears as she tours Ray and me
through her new studio. We’re wandering through the lower level of
her ocean-view house in a neighborhood south of Ketchikan.
“In Ray’s class something clicked. I discovered I’m more
comfortable carving than I am with a pencil.”
Today she carves her linoleum blocks and makes her large
black-ink prints in her basement studio. When her prints are dry,
she carries them upstairs to a smaller studio, where she
hand-colors them. “I like the blend of the creative time and the
more technical time,” she says of the work.
Evon’s first prints were whimsical images of southeast Alaska
and its animals, including salmon, ravens, and bears. More than a
decade ago, she started illustrating children’s books. There again,
Ray had a role. He introduced her to his book editor. The editor
liked Evon’s work and some time later offered her a job
illustrating a children’s book on northern animals. That first
book, Lucky Hares and Itchy
Bears, led to more, including Evon’s most recent works,
Little Red Snapperhood and
Ten Rowdy Ravens.
“Ravens have flown through my work through the last 18 years
probably as much as fish have swum through Ray’s,” Evon says. Her
work, with its Alaska flavor, animal motifs, and bright colors, has
much in common with Ray’s art, but it bears the imprint of Evon’s
own gently clever esthetic.
At the time of our visit, Evon is assembling pieces for
Raucous! Everything Raven, an
interactive museum show scheduled this winter at New Mexico
Museum of Natural History. One piece is a giant raven-themed
board game with game pieces the size of lunch boxes. Ray asks to
see the Alaska Magazine, which has a reproduction of the
board-game print. He makes sounds of approval and then turns to
see the schematic for a sculpture Evon is designing for an
elementary school.
“I guess he’s my mentor,” says Evon, as Ray noses through her
things. Ray shrugs, saying that what they have is more of a support
system. “When I want to talk book business, I talk to her. We’ve
both been through the roller coaster.”
Ketchikan is a great town for artists, say Ray and Evon. With
painters, sculptors, and totem pole carvers enriching the community
of 14,000, and a steady stream of summer tourists to support local
galleries, the area recently made a list of 100 Great Small Towns
for Art Communities. Perhaps it is because artists are there, that
others make it their home.
Or maybe it's because there’s nothing much to do around there in
the winter, says Evon. “We end up making homemade fun.”
For more on Zerbetz—including her art, books, bio, and
more—click here.
And click here to download a
printable illustration by Evon that you can color yourself—no
matter what your age.
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