Skip Wallen Page provided by The Urban Eskimo! Specialists in Alaska Art & Antiques!

W a l l e n P a g e
You have reached the R.T. "Skip" Wallen information page provided by the Urban Eskimo. The information below is compiled from data provided by the artist and my own sales records. It will be updated and added to as information changes. We have many of Wallen's stone lithographs available as well as his small bronze sculptures. Posted January 2, 2008.
A r t i s t ' s B i o
R.T. "Skip" Wallen is an artist with an international clientele. Born in Wisconsin, he began spending summers in Alaska Territory in 1958 commercial fishing with his uncle. He moved to Alaska permanently following his graduation from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His degree in zoology led to work as a research biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and during long periods in the field, he sketched animals in his spare time. His artwork drew the attention of the commissioner, who transferred Wallen to headquarters to become the staff artist. In 1967, he left the department to become a full-time artist, opening his own small gallery in downtown Juneau. From 1967 to 1984, he specialized in stone lithography, an ancient technique of original printmaking in which images are drawn on a smooth limestone slab and transferred to paper using ink and pressure. The hand-pulled prints were acquired by private collectors, museums and corporations and were given as gifts to and by heads of state and royalty.		Wallen's first foray into sculpture was his landmark bronze bear, Windfall Fisherman, commissioned to celebrate Alaska's first 25 years of statehood in 1984. This monumental sculpture reposes in front of the Alaska Capital. He went on to produce other monumental sculptures which can be found at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland and Amsterdam, Netherlands, the University of Houston and in corporate and private collections. His latest project, funded by the U.S. Congress, is a World War II monument to commemorate the Lend-Lease Program between Alaska and Russia. Several of his maquettes (small working models) for large sculptures have been cast in small editions for sale to individuals. These include the Windfall Fisherman bear, an African figure group, a male cougar, a female cougar and the American and Russian Aviators. A Juneau group has also proposed a bronze life-size humpback whale in celebration of Alaska's 50th birthday.

S k i p W a l l e n
L i t h o g r a p h s f r o m S t o n e

Man From Fort Yukon 1969 Edition 50
A study of Jonathan Hunter, an Athabascan Indian of Fort Yukon, Alaska. As a youth, Mr. Hunter worked on the sternwheeler steamboats that carried gold seekers up the Yukon River from its mouth at the Bering Sea, a journey of 2,400 kilometers.

Spruce Roost 1970 Edition 100
A "roost" of spruce grouse observed on a spruce tree branch near the old Dalton Post in the Yukon Territory, Canada. Spruce grouse are also known as spruce hens, spruce chickens, fool hens and partridge.

Gooch Eesh 1970 Edition 100
A portrait of Johnny C. Jackson, a Tlingit Indian from the southeast Alaska village of Kake. Gooch Eesh, his personal name, means "Wolf Father." Johnny Jackson was born in Tebenkoff Bay. When Wallen asked him if he had any traditional garments in which to be sketched he went into his kitchen pantry and pulled out a Chilkat Robe from behind a sack of potatoes. He is wearing this robe in the lithograph. He said that years ago one of the Kake churches had instituted a day known as "Kake Day", during which all of the villagers were encouraged to burn their Tlingit cultural properties. Many did, but he was one who refused and this particular robe thus escaped the fires.

Tsulxan Gowukan "Peacedancer" 1971 Edition 100
A portrait of George Dalton, Sr., of Hoonah, the artist's adopted Tlingit father. Tsulxan in the Tlingit language is the mighty and beautiful Mount Fairweather on the southern coast of Alaska, visible from afar on the North Pacific and, in the old days, a weather forecaster for Tlingit sea otter hunters. Gowukan is literally Sitka Deer, but in this context is used in the sense of a peaceful creature, a Peacemaker or Peacedancer-A title of respect for a person who served in a ceremonial hostage exchange during the arbitration of an important tribal dispute. Mr. Dalton held the honorary title until his death.

Tsee Xwaa 1972 Edition 110
A portrait of John B. Fawcett, Tlingit Indian of Juneau, Alaska. Tsee Xwaa belonged to the Woosh Ke Taan clan which claims the halibut as a clan crest. Study sketches for this print were made in the artist's valentine Building studio while Tsee Xwaa sang the song of the halibut spirit dance.

Screech Owl 1972 Edition 115
This image is still preserved on a stone in the Wallen Studio, protected with gum arabic. It was saved for a demonstration or sample stone in his gallery, something to show people when discussing the process of puling stone lithographs.

Short Eared Owl 1973 Edition 125
A portrait of an injured owl which suffered a broken wing and lived for several years in the artist's studio in Juneau, Alaska. The owl was retrieved from the Mendenhall Wetlands near Juneau, a favorite spot for short eared owls (and harriers) during both spring and fall migration. It has been shot with a shotgun, and pellets had broken and nearly severed one of it's wings. Veterinarian Cliff Lobaugh, after determining the wing could not be saved, helped Wallen to amputate it. On an outing on the wetlands with a group of school kids about this same year, Wallen counted eleven short eared owls shot on the wetlands.

Turn Head Owl 1973 Edition 125
Portrait of the same injured short eared owl with its head turned nearly upside down.

Chilkat Eagle 1973 Edition 150
The bald eagle, a North American raptor, is considered an endangered species over most of its range. Only in Alaska do healthy numbers of eagles survive. The one portrayed here guards a dog salmon that it has captured on the Clilkat River near Haines, Alaska. Here each winter over two thousand eagles gather to harvest a late-spawning run of salmon. During this and previous years, the artist spent several months on the river in connection with his efforts to establish a state Critical Habitat area for bald eagles on the river. That Critical Habitat Area eventually became the Chilkat Eagle State Park.

Windfall Fisherman 1974 Edition 150
Portrait of a brown bear observed during the summer of 1973 near Windfall Harbor on Admiralty Island, Alaska. The bear has just hauled itself up on a log to eat a freshly caught salmon. This print inspired Wallen's life-size bronze sculpture commissioned by the City and Borough of Juneau to commemorate the Silver Anniversary of Alaska Statehood. The sculpture, near the Alaska Capital building, has became a hallmark of Juneau. An edition of small bronzes was also produced on the Windfall Fisherman theme.

Black Bear Study--Annan Creek 1975 Edition 150
This print was developed from life drawings of black bars fishing for pink salmon on a creek in southeast Alaska. The artist spent five days sketching bears along this stream and had the experience of one of these bears stepping over his legs and splashing water on his charcoal sketch.

Willow Bull 1977 Edition 150
A bull moose portrayed during the rut or mating period in the Alaskan autumn. At this time of year, bulls eat very little and spend their time seeking mates and, having found them, trying to keep them from other bulls. Sparring and battles between bulls often ensue, and the clash of antlers rings through the air. Bulls often enter the winter bruised, battle-weary and in weakened condition.

Printmaker 1978 Edition 175
A study of an Alaskan grizzly making footprints as it climbs a snow-covered hill.

Stoowu Kaa 1979 Edition 175
A second portrait of the artist's adopted father, George Dalton, Sr., of Hoonah, Alaska (the first was Peancedancer). He is wearing a Chilkat robe woven of cedar bark and mountain goat wool. Biographies of Mr. Dalton and his wife, written by the artist and his anthropologist wife, Lynn Wallen, were published in Haa Kusteeyi: Our Culture, Tlingit Life Stories, edited by Nora Marks Dauenhauer and Richard Dauenhauer (1994 University of Washington Press and Sealaska Heritage Foundation.

Standing His Ground 1981 Edition 175
This study of an interior Alaska or Toklat grizzly is based on field observations conducted over a period of several years in the region of Denali in Mt. McKinley National Park.

Naa Klaa 1982 Edition 175
A portrait of Jessie K. Starr Dalton, a Tlingit woman of Hoonah, Alaska, wearing a traditional Tlingit kaayakoot'i x'oow (button blanket) of wool felt and mother-of-pearl buttons. Her name Naa Klaa is also a title of respect referring to "Mother of the Dak Dein Taan clan" of the Raven moiety. She is the adoptive mother of the artist.

Cat's Cradle 1983 Edition 175
A study of a leopard resting in the branches of an acacia tree on the Serengeti Plain of Tanzania, East Africa. Based on field studies in Tanzania and Kenya.

Shining Armor 1983 Edition 175 plus 25 special edition prints
A study of an Alaska barren-ground caribou. Caribou wear a rather scruffy or patchy pelt throughout he warm summer months which includes the remnants of the previous years' still-shedding coat. They also carry new, growing antlers, still soft and incompletely formed in their velvety sheaths of skin. September brings forth the full splendor of caribou, with thick new coats of white, gray and black. The velvet antler sheaths dry and crack, and the naked, bony antlers show red at first and then, with age and wear, various hues of yellow and whitish gray. The bulls trash their antlers in any convenient shrub, polishing them until beams and tine shine bony bright. As the season advances, rubbing trees stand denuded of branches while the bulls, white bearded and silvery-flanked, spar with each other, sending the clash of battle ringing across the north. Twenty-five special "Friends of Alaska" prints of this and its companion print, Rest and Rumination were donated to the Friends of Alaska conservation group.

Rest and Renumination 1983 Edition 175 plus 25 special edition prints
The same bull caribou portrayed in Shining Armor lies resting after the exertion of polishing his antlers on a small tree. A broken branch of the tree still hangs from his antlers as he ruminates.

Sixteen Tons 1984 Edition 175
A study of sixteen Alaska walruses in a close group.

Sheep Crossing 1985 Edition 175
Three Dall Sheep on a rocky ledge.

Raven Child 1987 Edition 175
Portrait of master artist Nathan Jackson, whose Tlingit name Yeil Yadi means "Raven Child".

Gang of Four 1988 Edition 185 plus 25 special edition prints
An Alaska brown bear mother and three cubs. This print was the inspiration for the life size bronze sculpture of the same name. It is located at the DIPAC Salmon Hatchery in Juneau. A special edition of 25 "Friends of KTOO" prints was pulled for donation to Juneau's Public television station. KTOO raised $12,500 from their auction of these prints.

Amur Tiger 1991 Edition 28
A study of a Siberian tiger produced after two trips by the artist to the Russian far east, including field studies in the tiger's habitat.

O r i g i n a l C o l o r P r i n t s

Arctic Circle 1978 Edition 166
Serigraph of a herd of musk oxen gathered in a defensive circle, based on the artist's experience in transplanting musk oxen from Nunivak to Nelson Island while working as a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in the early 1960s.

Arrival of the Seabirds 1980 Edition 1970
Color print showing a group of Inupiat Eskimos in a traditional skin boat in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. This whimsical print, done in a caricature style, portrays the spotting of the first migration of spring birds to the arctic, an experience the artist shared with Diomede Island hunters while he was a Department of Fish and Game observer for six months on the island in 1965. This print was done by a process called pontigraphy, a technique of printing with tiny of pure artist's oils. Pontigraphy was invented by the artist and his assistant, and its effect is fluid and soft, resembling a watercolor.

Song of the Oogruk 1982 Edition 200
Eleven color runs on zinc plate and mylar produced this light-hearted portrayal of Inupiat Eskimo hunters on the ice pack. They attempt to determine the whereabouts of a bearded seal by listening to its "singing" beneath the ice. The musical-note bubbles represent the songs which bearded seals sing during courtship rituals. Oogruk is the Inupiat word for bearded seal.

Site Information

The Urban Eskimo!
217 Seward Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801

907.796.3626 Phone
907.500.7326 Fax

S t o n e L i t h o g r a p h s	V a l u e	Y e a r I s s u e d	E d i t i o n S i z e
Man From Fort Yukon	$3,500	1969	50
Spruce Roost	$2,500	1970	100
Gooch Eesh	$3,500	1970	100
Tsulxan Gowukan-Peacedancer	$3,500	1971	100
Txee Xwaa	$3,500	1972	110
Screech Owl	$1,000	1972	115
Short Eared Owl	$1,000	1973	125
Turn Head Owl	$1,000	1973	125
Chilkat Eagle	$1,600	1973	150
Windfall Fisherman	$5,000	1974	150
Black Bear Study	$1,700	1975	150
Willow Bull	$1,800	1977	150
Print Maker	$1,800	1978	175
Stoowu Kaa	$2,000	1979	175
Standing His Ground	$1,500	1981	175
Naa Klaa	$1,000	1982	175
Cat's Cradle	$1,200	1983	175
Shining Armor	$400	1983	175 + 25 Special Edition
Rest & Rumination	$400	1983	175 + 25 Special Edition
Sixteen Tons	$2,500	1984	175
Sheep Crossing	$600*	1985	175
Raven Child	$800*	1987	175
Gang of Four	$2,500	1988	185 + 25 Special Edition
Amur Tiger	$2,500	1991	28
C o l o r P r i n t s
Arctic Circle (serigraph)	$1,500	1978	166
Arrival of the Seabirds (pontigraph)	$1,500	1980	170
Song of the Oogruk (zinc plate & mylar lithograph)	$1,500*	1982	200