Corn fields, sheep clustered near a stream, bales of hay wound up in huge rolls.
These are some of the subjects captured by Evergreen artist Roger Ambrosier.
His pastel paintings will be on exhibit along with some of his other works in “Six Decades of an Artist’s Journey” at the Center for the Arts Evergreen, 32003B Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen, beginning with a reception
from 5-8 p.m. Sept. 13. The exhibit will continue through Oct. 3.
Ambrosier’s work extends to other media: watercolors, woodcuts, ceramics and sculptures, all of which display his evolution as an artist.
His first drawing, made as a 3-year-old on a farm in Maysville, Mo., is part of the show.
Ambrosier spent 33 years as an art teacher at West Jefferson Middle School. One of his former students, Sarah Wallace Scott, remembers him as a mentor and father figure.
“What was really awesome were the art trips he organized. We went to New York City and Taos, N.M. The evolution of his work is informed and fascinating. He is the kind of artist who should have had a retrospective 10 years ago,” Scott said.
She is now an adjunct professor at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.
Ambrosier said his work is very personal and has its roots in the rural environment where he grew up.
“People ask me if my parents encouraged me and I say, ‘No, but they didn’t discourage me, and that’s just as important,’ ” he said.
Encouragement must have come, too, from the hills and meadows because he talks about the family homestead with reverence. Many of his pastels are images of Missouri fields and hillsides.
As an only child, he said, “I spent a lot of time wandering the creeks and streams and I could get away with it because I was the ‘art guy.’ ”
Ambrosier, who lives with his wife, Jeanne, will give presentations on the progression of his art at noon on Sept. 18 and Oct. 2 at the center. To view his biography and pastels, go to .
For more information, call 303-674-0056.
