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Brief Biography- 2018 I was born in Gary, Indiana but raised in Texas. This is where this photo of my mother, Violet Christenson, and her father, the Dallas commercial artist Forrest Kirkland, were painting about 1926. Artistic skill does run in my family for several generations but has never guaranteed success. Having lived in various Texas towns such as Cranfills Gap, Odessa and Grand Prairie I left to go off to the San Francisco Art Institute at about the age of twenty-one with my first wife. I worked in the commercial art field for a couple of major designers and the Emporium department store. I eventually received my BFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. Shortly after graduating and marrying my second wife we left for the Peace Corps. The next two years were memorable ones living in the small village of Chintilapudi in Guntur District of south Andrea Pradesh, India. After building a couple of schools and drinking much coffee and tea I enrolled in graduate school at the University of Washington where I received my MFA in painting. Although I taught painting, I consider myself a sculptor.

Mom and Grandpa

I started teaching while in graduate school but didn't know if I would like it or would be any good at it. After teaching at the University of Washington, I taught part-time at Chief Sealth Community School, Shoreline Community College and North Seattle Community College. I started NSCC in the Fall of 1971, only one year after the school was opened. I have since then taught figure drawing, painting, 2D and 3D design, watercolor, Baroque to Modern art history, intro to art, interdisciplinary Humanities including the Medieval and Renaissance, Asian art history and couple of coordinated studies including Revolutions and Reactions, as well as, Censorship and conflicts. I was the adviser to the NSCC Art Group that funds the Art Gallery. My wife, Cheryl, and I did the decorations for the North Seattle College Education Foundation Dinners from 2003 which included "France", "Brazil", "Italy", "Greece", "Hawaii",   until 2011 "40 Years" which often included several murals and stage sets.

Elroy doing watercolors

For about seventeen years I lived on 10 acres on the Snohomish River between Everett and Snohomish. This is where I raised my three kids, five Charlotte/Simmental cross beef cattle, two horses, 25 chickens, 3 pigs, five cats, and a dog. It was an experiment in "back to the earth" culture that was most important for my children. Here I had a studio first in the huge barn and later for eight years in the old Swan's Trail Church. When it was sold from under me life brought all kinds of changes and my move back to north Seattle.

The new life style brought new challenges and much more travel. Besides my teaching duties I also like to travel. I received a Fulbright in 1990 for the Study of Culture and Art of India. It felt like going home. Three years later I received another Fulbright Grant to study the Culture of Indonesia. The trip back from these places took me to Nepal, Thailand, China and Japan.   In 2001 I was a faculty member on Semester-at-Sea when my wife, myself and step-daughter took three months to sail around the world on the S. S. Universe Explorer. We were two days out of Kobe, Japan when the World Trade Center was attacked.  We completed the trip but had to detour around Africa via the Seychelles Island and Cape Town then onto Salvador, Brazil and final stop of an audience with Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba.

My friend and fellow French teacher, Scott Bernhard and I took several groups to France since 1990 where we enjoyed the sights, sounds and, of course, the food and wine.   We closed down the business in 2008 last tour.  Scott "Serge" Bernhard started to loose his good health about 2015 and passed away in 2018.