Feeling expressed for Alaska

When Katrina Brennan was in her early 20s, she took a job as a fish spotter for a herring fishery based in southeast Alaska. Soaring over the magnificent waters and mountains of Alaska, she was awestruck by their beauty and serenity.

She thought to herself, “I would love to paint this feeling. I would love to capture how light plays on this water.”

And that was what Brennan did when she picked up a paintbrush seriously two years ago.

A self-taught artist, she captures on canvas the seascapes of southeast Alaska and their abundance of marine life in vibrant colors and vivid details.

Her paintings depict bald eagles soaring over the water, seals frolicking in the open ocean, salmon in their natural habitat and young fishermen learning with helping hands. They depict the mist and mystery of Sitka in particular, with its snow-capped mountains, gleaming water and ethereal morning and evening sky.

“I try to capture in my painting a moment of perfection, a scene that can be glimpsed only momentarily,” Brennan said. “I try hard to convey the sense of the place.”

She does it from her memories and from photos brought back by her husband, who fishes at Sitka every year.

Brennan takes an idea from the photos, combines it with research on details of fish and animals and creates an image that offers the viewer a glimpse of underwater life.

“The underwater life in Alaska is very vibrant and rarely seen. I want to bring something different to the viewer. I like to take something mundane and add an element of beauty to it,” she said.

“I love the colors of sky. It is reflected on the scales of salmon. So I like to blend them,” she continued.

Although she has not been painting long, Brennan is prolific. Besides seascapes, she paints portraits and murals for families and friends.

In 2004, with a group of volunteers, she painted a mural on the outer walls of Spokane House. She now is painting a child-themed mural for Life Center North.

“Painting balances me. It gives me a sense of peace,” Brennan said. “I have been given a gift, and I feel the need to share it with people. If somebody gets something out of my paintings, my goal is reached.”

Brennan’s paintings were displayed in Empyrean Café as part of Art Walk in March. They’re on exhibit through August in the Sunset Gallery in Harrison, Idaho.