Artist-in-Residence Program

The Alpenwild Artist-in-Residence Program invites recognized artists who enrich, inform, and enhance our guests’ experience in the Alps. These artists have demonstrated their ability to convey the scenic beauty, cultural richness, and undeniable romance of the Alps in their work. Alpenwild provides Artists-in-Residence time and space away from their usual environment and immerses them in the cultural traditions and scenic wonders of the Alps. Through this program, we provide opportunities for reflection, research, presentation, production, and collaboration. Depending on the artist, guests may have access to professional instruction in technique. Artists-in-Residence are introduced to new landscapes and cultural environments, generating new insights and modes of expression. They may participate by conducting workshops, leading special art tours, or producing works for exhibition and sharing within the Alpenwild community.  

Alpenwild 2018 Artists in Residence

Jana Winters Parkin - Watercolorist

Jana Winters Parkin, UWS, is an award-winning artist specializing in watercolor, with a passion for the great outdoors. She was practically raised with a paintbrush in her hand, brought up under the tutelage of her father, art educator and watercolorist Dr. Nathan B. Winters. Her college education began at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, the University of Cambridge in England, and she earned her BFA from the University of Utah, under internationally recognized watercolorists George Dibble and Ed Maryon. Since then she has studied with some of the world’s great watercolor painters, including Charles Reid, Cheng Khee Chee, Linda Kemp, Alvaro Castagnet, and Thomas Schaller. Jana spent 15 years running a design and illustration studio in Los Angeles, where many celebrities commissioned her work, including Paul Newman (Scott Newman Center), Melanie Griffith (Sabera Foundation), Michelle Pfeiffer (Victory Over Violence), the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Hollywood Bowl. A turning point came when Breez Fragrances commissioned 30 original watercolors to introduce their new fragrance lines. Jana discovered her passion and her future was in watercolor. Jana has been plein-air painting for over 30 years and is the instructor on Alpenwild’s Plein Air Painting in the Alps tour. She has taught advanced watercolor courses at Utah Valley University since 2007. She is also a popular workshop instructor and teaches private lessons in her home studio. Outside of galleries and collectors’ walls her work can be viewed at janaparkin.com  

Bill Ehman - Independent Filmmaker

With over 30 years behind the camera covering live-action professional sports for network television, Bill Ehman has a uniquely-honed expertise that enables him to adeptly and beautifully capture the adventure, scenic beauty and spontaneous joy that abounds in the Alps. Professionally he has shot almost all professional sports as a television cameraman. He's been a go-to cameraman for the networks for multiple Olympic events, MLB World Series and All-Star Games, the PGA tour, and thousands of NBA games. He’s a two-time Emmy award winner has shot for network television in Russia, Spain, Japan, and Australia. An avid runner and hiker, Bill has completed 5 marathons, and a dozen half-marathons, so busting up a trail in the Alps while weighted down with a pack full of camera gear is a cakewalk for Bill. He’s a capable drone pilot and his work regularly features aerial cinematography. Telling a story with spectacular aerial shots of the Alps has become a signature feature of his outdoor short films. You can experience these productions in his online portfolio at https://billehman.carbonmade.com/

Tom Dempsey-Photographer

Born in California, Tom bought his first camera in 1978. During a memorable nine-month trip around the world in 1981, he captured the wonders of New Zealand, Nepal, Norway, France and Switzerland on color slide film. A move to Washington State motivated him to publish his images in magazines and books. Switching from film to digital after 2003 increased his creativity with instant feedback and freedom from the tripod. Distilling over thirty years of experience, Tom’s book “Light Travel: Photography on the Go” teaches and inspires outdoor photographers by revealing the magic of portable cameras. His website PhotoSeek.com illustrates practical nature travel advice with evocative photography. 

Tom’s images have been published in dozens of books and magazines, including publications by National Geographic, Rough Guides, Dorling Kindersley, Sierra Magazine, PC Photo magazine, Nature Journal of Science, and the catalogs and websites of Alpenwild, Wilderness Travel, Ryder-Walker, and Mountain Travel-Sobek.

Bill is the instructor on Alpenwild's Alps Photo Workshop tour.