Award-winning watercolorist Forman headlines 2004 KWF

 
By ALICIA EVANS

Chuck Forman, a nationally acclaimed watercolorist from Northern Michigan, is the featured artist at the 2004 Kirtland’s Warbler Festival.

Forman has won numerous awards for his transparent watercolors, including the New York Salmagundi Club Award of Excellence. He has had a piece of commercial artwork on display in France that he did for Steel Case Furniture.

Perhaps one of his most famous pieces of work is that of the Coast Guard icebreaker Biscayne Bay, for which he was also honored. The painting toured the country as part of the COGAP collection in 1995 and is now on display in Hartford, Conn.

Forman exhibits his artwork at many galleries around Michigan such as the Blue Heron Gallery in Elk Rapids and the Art and Soul Gallery located in Acme. He also displays many of his pieces in the studio of his lakefront home.

His work cannot only be seen in the numerous galleries across Michigan, but also at the often-sold out art show which he holds every summer around the Traverse City area. Forman has been doing these one-man shows since 1978 and continues to do so.

This year, visitors to the KWF can see his work. He will not only have some of his work on display, but said he will also be doing demonstrations of the surrounding wilderness of KCC.

Forman has been painting with a passion since attending high school on Dearborn’s East Side.

“I couldn’t imagine doing something different,” he said. “I don’t know anything else.”

Forman does most of his work from life and pictures and has been painting and doing commercial art and illustrations for 35 years. Out of high school, he first attended college to study engineering and by luck answered an ad in the paper for a commercial illustrator. He got the job.

From there he moved to Lansing, where he continued making a living by doing commercial illustrations, working with many well-known clients.

“I got into a lot of commercial work and learned many things that apply to paintings and art and I use those skills in my artwork today,” said Forman.

He now lives on picturesque Torch Lake and draws inspiration from the area. Doing all of his paintings in transparent watercolor, he specializes in landscapes and nature settings. Most of his artwork is set in the Northern Michigan and its surrounding waters.

“I can go out of my driveway and see a painting,” he said. “I love where I live and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”

Jim Enger, Kirtland’s marketing director and chairman of the KWF organizing committee, is a long-time friend of Forman’s.

“Chuck is a very versatile artist,” Enger said. “He can do fine art, illustrations, commercial art, you name it.”

Aside from painting and doing commercial artwork, Forman has taught a watercolor class in the Traverse City area for the past ten years. He’s also an avid fisherman, a passion he shares with Enger, an erstwhile guide.

Enger recalls many a time when Forman would have him stop the boat in order to take a picture of the beautiful banks or scenery surrounding whichever river they chose to fish that day. Later, Forman would take many of the pictures from the previous trip and paint the scenery back to life.

“I remember one trip in particular,” said Enger. “We were going around a bend and Chuck had me pull the boat up so he could take a picture of this beautiful white birch that he wanted to paint. I’ll tell you, that was 10 years ago and I still haven’t seen that painting.”

Forman’s response: “The painting is in its creative stage. One these days I’ll get around to it.”

For more information about Chuck Forman and his work, visit his website at www.chuckformanartistsnorth.com.