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Fine Art & Jewelry
Home About the Gallery Links Directions "Memorial Day - Looking for Heros"
View the Print About the Artist Memorial Travel Fund Support Wallowa County's WWII Veterans |
Sponsored by Eagle Cap Post No. 4307 Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Enterprise, Oregon |
 Self Portrait
by Mike Koloski |
About the Artist Although Mike Koloski has drawn and painted since childhood, he acquired his formal training gradually, in parallel with other careers as a Coast Guard Officer, civil engineer and teacher. Mike graduated from the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, in 1965. He served as a Coast Guard officer specializing in engineering at locations on both the East and West coasts of the United States. His service included a tour in Viet Nam aboard the USCGC Barataria participating in Operation Market Time. In his off duty time, Mike studied art at the University of Maryland, the Corcoran School, Old Dominion University, and the University of Alaska. Following his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1985, Mike continued his art training at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and at the University of Alaska Southeast where he earned a degree in fine arts painting. Mike works primarily in oil. He is equally interested in landscape, portraiture and figurative work. Mike's work has appeared in individual and group shows in Alaska and Oregon. He lives in Enterprise, Oregon, amidst the beauty of the Wallowa Mountains, which provide inspiration for his art. Mike is represented by Indigo Gallery, 504 South Main Street, Joseph, Oregon. He is a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. |
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"Memorial Day - Looking for Heros" Click on this image for a larger view  Colored Lithograph, 16 X 20 inches, numbered and signed by the artist in an edition of 1500 |
Artist's Statement About the Print Throughout the land, in the days leading up to the nationwide Memorial Day celebration, families and friends decorate the graves of their loved ones in remembrance and respect. Our Post puts out nearly four hundred flags on the graves of veterans at two Wallowa County cemeteries. I have always found these Memorial Day duties to be a very moving experience. I know that the comrades who participate consider it a privilege to decorate the graves of our fellow veterans. What a thrill to finally look out on the cemetery, spread before the magnificent Wallowa Mountains, decorated with flowers and our nation's flag. I wanted to share a sense of this experience with others, especially with our youth who might benefit from knowing who the real heroes are. Thus, Enterprise Cemetery, the Wallowa Mountains, a fellow comrade and his grandchildren all go to make up "Memorial Day - Looking for Heroes". I hope you enjoy it. Mike Koloski, Artist |