Eddie Kollasch, photographer from Palisade, is the featured artist at Colorado Canyons Gallery & Gifts at 623 Main Street during March.  A reception for the artist will be held from 5:30 – 8 pm during the 1^st Friday Artwalk.

Kollasch grew up in Alamosa in the San Louis Valley, Colorado.  He attended college at Fort Lewis in Durango where he met his wife Laurie. They live in Palisade and have two daughters, Savannah & Mariah.  Kollasch is a physician’s assistant at the wound clinic at St. Mary’s.

According to Kollasch, “We were fortunate as a family to get to spend the summer of 2008 in Yellowstone National Park.  I was a PA at Old Faithful Medical Clinic that summer with a schedule that allowed a couple of days off in a row to explore the Park.  We hiked so much that summer, and I took lots of pictures of the wildlife and the spectacular scenery.  Through my job there, we had access to many areas of the Park that most people aren’t familiar with.  Many of the Rangers and my work mates were avid photographers, and they all taught me things about taking pictures in the wild that I still use today.  It was easy to get more confident with my photos when I got to be around such beautiful scenery, and couldn’t help but take a couple of nice pictures along the way.  Coming back to Junction at the end of that summer, I was fortunate to take Steve Traudt’s Photoshop class and learned more about how to process some of my photos.  Steve’s classes opened up a way for me to look at my photos and process and share them.

In the Wound Clinic there are  no windows in our suite.  I have been fortunate that my supervisors allow me to hang some of my photo works on the walls there, so I get to share my photos with my work mates and patients.  I feel like I have my own gallery at work, so I can change the photos on the walls, add new pictures, change out ones I get tired of, and keep learning about photography.   There is so much to learn about photography, it should keep me busy for many years to come.   I am relatively new to this so I still get a rush sharing my pictures with people.  I feel like when someone sees one of my pictures, I am sharing a part of my soul – we get to share an image that was moving to me, I hope it is moving to them too.  Thanks for sharing my images.”

The public is invited (free of charge) to meet our talented artists (more than 35) and enjoy the sounds of our musical guests—the acoustic band, bone tree, from Western Colorado’s Unaweep Canyon. They will play “deep canyon music,” from  6:30- 8:00 pm. Their songs that have the depth of American music rebuilt note by note to create a new and exciting mix.

 

First Friday Reception: Robin Moreng