R.I.P.

     John Lofgreen died in obscurity sometime around 1996. He decided to die because he heard that artists become more famous after death, and he wanted to cash in on some of that. Although he is dead, somehow his slowly decaying corpse continues to paint to this day. In fact, people who knew John, remark that he has done some of his best work after passing away.

     He was born in Mesa, Arizona, but grew up mostly in Carpinteria, California. From earliest childhood, John had two obsessions, animals, and art. There was always a menagerie of animals in his home,(not including his siblings, five brothers and three sisters). John tried to make a pet out of any animal he could subdue. From bats to barn owls, rattlesnakes to racoons, he kept them all.

    John did'nt do so well in school. He doodled and daydreamed from Kindergarten to community college. After high school, he washed dishes at a restaurant at night, and volunteered at the Santa Barbara Zoo during the day. He still managed to paint whenever he could find the time.

    At twenty, John served as a missionary in Mexico for the LDS church, for two years. There he learned to speak spanish and gained a great deal of maturity and self confidense. He was very impressed by the culture, food, and wildlife of the region. It was there, while seeing the myriad of tropical birds that he began to be a birder.

    Afterward, John moved to the small town of Lakeside Arizona, in the White Mountains. He earnestly tried to establish himself as a wildlife artist, but that proved to be much harder than he anticipated. So he had to get a real job from time to time. He did commercial art, and conducted wildlife surveys for the USFS, FWS, and other government agencies. All the while he developed his painting skill whenever possible.

    During these years he became a serious birder, and developed a deeper understanding of the natural world. He became the Field Trip Chairman for the local chapter of the Audubon Society, and he has birded in Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Thailand, and Cambodia. Some of these countries, he has visited many times, and is very familiar with the fauna of these places.

     Just about a year after his death, John moved north to Eagle River, Alaska, becuase he would decompose more slowly in a cold climate. His artwork has really blossomed in Alaska. He has had many of his paintings licensed, and published throughout the United States, and Canada. Many companies have used his images, Wildwings, Remington Firearms, NRA, The Hamilton Collection, and many others. He has many collectors of his original paintings. He hopes that you become one of them before his arms drop off, and it's too late to get a painting.