Ladd Bjorneby, Artist
Why the bear track? Bjørn means bear in Norwegian and Ladd has included a bear track with his signature since the mid-1970s.
Early life:
Ladd Bjorneby was born and raised in Kalispell, Montana. Kalispell has been an art-oriented community for decades. His mother, a teacher, was a portrait artist and weaver and his father was a jeweler. A neighbor, June Isaacs, taught oil painting in her home. His godmother, Charlotte Ebeltoft, took him to her cabin often, where he learned to know forest plants and animals. Ladd studied watercolor under Karen Leigh at Flathead Valley Community College in 1976-77. At Pacific Lutheran University, he studied drawing under Dennis Cox, Walt Tomsic and Ernst Schwidder; and landscape painting under Jens Knudsen, graduating with a B.A. in Biology in 1980. After two quarters of graduate work at the University of Washington, he withdrew to enter seminary. In 1983, Ladd’s design was chosen in competition to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. He designed subsequent logos for the fiftieth anniversary of the Going-to-the-Sun Road and for Glacier’s seventy-fifth anniversary. His work has been shown in several Montana galleries from 1976 until 1986.
On retirement from his work as a Lutheran pastor serving congregations, Ladd joined the artists’ co-op Avenue West Gallery. He moved to Liberty Lake, Washington, where he lives in a community on the Spokane River, and has a spacious studio upstairs. Painting is now a part of daily life and his work may be seen at Avenue West, as well as other venues and shows from time to time.
The watercolor of a kingfisher is one I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Finally this spring I watched a kingfisher and took good reference photos for this painting. It will be shown in the Montana Watercolor Society’s annual exhibition, Watermedia 2023, in Bigfork, Montana this fall. Prints are available at the link below.
This painting of a Sandhill Crane is painted from Ladd’s photos taken at the Saltese Flats. It has been chosen to show at the Spokane Watercolor Society’s spring show in 2023.
After a fall visit to the Quinault Rainforest in western Washington, Ladd painted this watercolor of the lush vegetation and crystalline water. It has been purchased and has gone to its new home.
I am a member of the Avenue West Gallery artists’ co-op. You can email me at ladd at beartrackart dot com.
Find me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Etsy as Bear Track Art.
