Carl Buttke

Carl Buttke was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1940. He has lived on the West Coast of the United States since 1965 and has been painting for the past 16 years. He now lives on Orcas Island, Washington with his wife Penny and their dog Carmela.Carl Buttke paints primarily from nature and his travels throughout the U.S. and Europe. Creating abstract nonrepresentational paintings in his studio also inspires him. He paints with watercolor, acrylic, oil and pastel. Carl began painting as a child in Wisconsin. This was followed by a career as a consulting transportation engineer. In 1993, he resumed his childhood dream of becoming an artist.Carl has painted extensively in villages throught France, including Monet's Giverny garden, Spain and Portugal. Currently he is painting landscapes of the San Juan Islands and the Pacific Northwest."To me, art is an expression of life. When I paint and create a composition, I look for the life in the object of my painting and strive to bring that life into my painting."

Carl studied at the Pacific Northwest College of Fine Art extension program in Portland, Oregon, in the studio of James Kirk for 15 years and with Stephen Quiller and other leading watercolor artists.He has recently shown his paintings at the 2008 Plein Air Art Show and in the gallery at the Crow Valley Pottery and Gallery and the Abstract Art Show at the Orcas Center on Orcas Island, Washington. Previously galleries in Bend and Sisters, Oregon and Ketchum, Idaho represented him.,

Featured Atrist, Orcas Island Artworks, August, 2009.
Watercolor Paintings, Key Bank, Eastsound, Washington, October 2009
Mostly Abstract, Orcas Center Lobby Gallery, Eastsound, Washington, March 2010.
Watercoloer Paintings, Doe Bay Resort and Retreat Center, Orcas Island, Washington, November through February, 2011.