Painting is often a self-reflective act. But painting is equally a tool to investigate and to learn about the world around us.

Join David Pettibone, painter and UAA instructor, at his artist talk where he will discuss some of his recent projects in which he uses his medium to explore and engage his subjects. His current series, “Year With a Tree” includes more than 70 paintings that investigate a single tree in Southcentral Alaska over the course of one year. Documenting the changing of the seasons, these works were composed from life in all types of weather so that the environment and its elements- from sunshine to wind, rain and snow affect the paintings just as they affect the tree and the surrounding flora. “Year With a Tree” will be on exhibition at the Anchorage Museum starting next month as part of their Polar Lab series. Pettibone will also share a bit from his previous projects including, “The Whale as a Dish”, a series that explores the subsistence, whaling tradition of the Inupiaq people in Utqiagvik, Alaska and the “Beekeeper” series, a body of work that depicts beekeeping within the agricultural industry.