Painting, and his artwork, has been a way of life for Alaskan artist Vernon Cross for more than 25 years. Arriving in Alaska in 1973, he sold his first painting for more money than he would make in three weeks at his former job as a tree topper, something he’d done for 11 years.

And painting didn’t hurt nearly as much as the numerous broken bones that had come with the other job. The career switch was gladly made, and he still thanks God for it today.

Both he and his brother, Bill Cross (also an artist), have traveled extensively throughout Alaska painting, teaching art classes, and enjoying the many gifts the great state has to offer. Ever observant, Vernon sees his surroundings through the eye of an artist, gauging just how he will capture that unique pastel light the sun brings to the Alaska sky, or capture the stillness of a moose as it watches him from 30 feet away. Many of his paintings are drawn from his personal experiences in the great Alaska wilderness, as he chronicles memorable scenes that linger from his ongoing adventures.

A summer spent camped out in a rain forest on Prince of Wales Island remains with him, and the southeastern rain forest still coils its haunting fingers around his paintbrush from time-to-time, showing up in the eerie moss-covered forest scenes he still paints today.

Vernon can be found on many summer days in the outdoors.  Perhaps trying to find some elusive gold nuggets by panning or metal detecting, or possibly catching rainbow trout with his kids from the small lake in front of the cabin where he lives with his lovely wife Sharon and four daughters.