Painter Biographies
Karen Bakke, Fargo, N.D.
Entering MeritCare through the lower level is like stepping into nature, thanks to the talents of Fargo artist Karen Bakke. The lower level entrance features Karen's mural of natural scenes, with North Dakota on three walls and Minnesota on the other three.
A wife and mother of three grown children, Karen earned a degree in graphic design and worked as an artist in the advertising industry for 19 years before becoming a full-time fine artist. For the past ten years, she has focused her talents on creating fine art with a concentration in murals, and nearly 95 percent of her work is commissioned.
Karen says working in watercolor, acrylic, oil and now fresco allows a flexibility and change of pace that keeps life interesting. "My subjects, styles, techniques and painting mediums are varied and mirror my personality," she says. "It's ever-changing and adaptable to the environment, special requests and personal inspirations."
Karen's murals add life to organizations, schools and businesses throughout the region. Her work has been honored by numerous organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation, the Northern Lights Council of the Boy Scouts of America and the Advertising Federation of Fargo-Moorhead.
Robert Crowe, Moorhead, Minn.
Three pastel landscapes by Robert Crowe set the scene in the family room on the second floor near the fireplace. The colorful North Dakota scenes are examples of Robert's plein aire technique, which refers to work that is done on location, directly from nature. "We are all so busy in our daily lives that we seldom have a chance to enjoy the beauty all around us," Robert says. "My desire is to not only faithfully capture the scene before me, but also to convey the peace, beauty and tranquility of a place and time."
Robert worked in the interior design field for 25 years before returning to Fargo-Moorhead in the 1990s to finish his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He fell in with love teaching while he was an instructor at the Creative Arts Studio and the Plains Art Museum, and returned to MSUM once again to earn a bachelor's degree in K-12 art education. He continued teaching at the Plains Art Museum and also began teaching art to children at Dakota Montessori School.
When he's not teaching or painting, he takes care of his family farm near Comstock, Minn. In addition to MeritCare, his recent work can be seen at Boerth's Art Gallery, Fargo, and the Rourke Art Museum, Moorhead.
Sandi Dahl, Fargo, N.D.
In her pastels and oils, Sandi Dahl strives to capture the intuitive landscapes of the mind and emotional responses to the land by developing interesting artistic expressions of shapes, colors and a "special" light. "My paintings are not of a specific scene, but of a sense of place in a moment of time," she says. "I search for basic elements of composition that convey the mood of the land and satisfy an emotional response to that image."
Sandi has created two pastel landscapes for MeritCare. The first, a regional landscape, is displayed in the hallway near the Prairie Mill Caf? on the lower level. The second, a landscape in five pieces, hangs on a rounded wall in the lower level near the Day Unit. Sandi grew up on a North Dakota farm and earned her degree at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. She is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and exhibits in galleries in Minneapolis and Chicago. Her work also has been exhibited at many of the top art festivals in the United States, including Old Town Art Fair in Chicago, the Coconut Grove Art Festival in Miami and the St. Louis Art Show.
She has received grants and commissions from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the North Dakota Council on the Arts. Sandi's recent awards include the Adrian Brianna award at the Pastel Society of America, New York, and the Historic Shaw Art Fair in St. Louis, Mo. Her pastels are published by Editions Limited in California.
Ellen Jean Diederich, Fargo, N.D.
Ellen Jean Diederich is an accomplished artist, children's author, teacher, entrepreneur, speaker… and more. An original watercolor, called "Harvest of Promise" (featured on the cover) with fields of sunflowers in vibrant shades of red, yellow and orange with a patchwork overlay, hangs in our south staff entrance. "Embroidered Floral," a watercolor in shades of pink, is displayed near our healing garden. Additional watercolors featuring local flowers and Minnesota landscapes are displayed in the Day Unit and on Main Street.
Ellen's artistry and imagination spring from a gifted palette and wander seamlessly from the poignant and the adorned, to soft, comforting fields of dreams, rococo settings and on occasion, to delightful whimsical edges. Her creations suggest a timeless reflection of essential impressions honed by her extensive travels and tempered by a sense of visualization that is at once unburdened, garden-fresh and real.
She began painting at age nine and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a bachelor's degree in K-12 art education from Minnesota State University Moorhead, where she drew portraits and caricatures during her final three years of college. Through her Fargo-based business, Givinity Press, she sells reproductions and cards of her watercolors. Ellen's works can also be seen at Underbrush Gallery in Fargo.
Ellen has won many awards and her work has appeared in numerous art books. In 2003, she published "Where's Petunia?" her first children's book. In addition to teaching art in Pine River, Minn., she has led watercolor workshops in Arizona, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wyoming. She is a signature member of both the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and the Red River Watercolor Society.
Carl Oltvedt, Fargo, N.D.
A series of landscapes near our Lower Level Corridor by Carl Oltvedt provide an indoor glimpse of nature for patients, family and visitors at our downtown campus. "These paintings reflect my principal focus on landscape subjects from west central Minnesota and eastern North Dakota," Carl says. "Introducing the figures and specific individuals as the principal subjects of the paintings has given me the opportunity to work with narrative ideas and add an additional level of meaning. This is a new direction for me."
A Minneapolis native, Carl earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Minnesota. He began his teaching career at Alma College, Alma, Mich., in 1980. Currently, he is a full professor in the Department of Art and Design at Minnesota State University Moorhead, where he has taught since 1983.
Carl has been a guest artist at the Glasgow School of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Scotland; the Grand Marais Art Colony, Grand Marais, Minn.; Viterbo College, LaCrosse, Wis.; and Winona State University, Winona, Minn. He is represented by Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis, where he has shown regularly in both solo and group exhibitions since 1978. He also exhibits pieces in solo and group exhibitions at the Rourke Art Gallery and Museum in Moorhead. His work is included in museum, private and corporate collections. Carl received a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Fellowship in 1991 and a Lake Region Arts Council/McKnight Fellowship in 2002.
Carl has two grown children. He and his wife, Kathy Moraghan reside in Fargo.
Patrick Tupa, Fargo, N.D.
A series of oil paintings by Patrick Tupa displayed in the new main lobby capture the human element of caring and compassion, depicting the heart of healing and the importance of family and friends in the healing process.
Patrick, a North Dakota native and award-winning artist, has worked in pencil, pastels and oils for more than 30 years. "Growing up in the Midwest, I have always felt a desire to create and a need to draw," he says. "Early on I studied the old masters, but soon found the work of John Singer Sargent and Norman Rockwell more suitable to what I am trying to communicate through my art - the high art of portraiture and a love for family and the everyday life we have in common."
Patrick completed his visual arts degree at the University of North Dakota, Fargo in 1978. He later received a K-12 art education certificate and taught for a number of years in Grand Forks, N.D. and East Grand Forks, Minn. In addition to his work in portraiture, he was the 1st Cavalry Division Museum artist while in the U.S. Army and worked as a pastel portrait artist at Knott's Berry Farm.
While many of his pieces can be viewed on the UND campus, he created two of his most prominent portraits for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura. His most recent works are on display at the Rourke Art Museum, Boerth's Art Gallery and City Hall, Fargo.
Tupa moved to Fargo in 2004 and works as a full-time artist in his home studio.