The Iowan

In the January/February 2008 issue of The Iowan

Landscape

For the Love of the Land

ARTIST FRED EASKER DISCOVERS MEANING AND WONDER
IN THE IOWA LANDSCAPE

Blue Creek Afternoon (above)
Oil on Canvas, 15" x 45", 2006

Story by Lori Erickson

Peruse a list of the subjects on Fred Easker’s canvases and you’re unlikely to spot anything that seems much out of the ordinary. A pasture next to a meandering creek. A curve on a country road. A plowed hillside in the spring. But look at the paintings themselves and something extraordinary emerges: a luminous vision of beauty that enables you to see the Iowa countryside with fresh eyes. With its meticulous attention to detail and understated sensuousness, Easker’s art evokes the unique character of a region that is too often unfairly dismissed as lacking in great natural beauty.

The 62-year-old Easker has deep Iowa roots. Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, he grew up with a love for the outdoors nurtured in part by frequent visits to family friends who were farmers near Ely. After receiving a degree in art education from the University of Iowa, Easker taught at a Cedar Rapids high school for several years and then worked at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and the Granger House, an historical museum in Marion. Along the way, he pursued art as a sideline, fitting it in around other work. “I gave up painting many times, but something always made me return to it again,” says Easker, who lives in Cedar Rapids with his wife, Velga, also an artist…