Seth LaGrange

Ellettsville, IN

Artist Website: www.lagrangeartistry.com/

Bio:

My name is Seth LaGrange full time artist specializing in scratchboard art, but I also dabble in other mediums such as graphite drawing and water-based inks.
I am a professionally trained Wildlife Biologist and worked as a research scientist for many years before becoming a full-time artist. I’ve worked with many threatened and endangered species such as Timber Rattlesnakes, Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes, Alligator Snapping Turtles, and Hellbender Salamanders. Because of this background, much of my art features animals or the natural world. I hope to promote the conservation of our natural world through my artwork.
I have loved animals since before I can remember and have had all manner of pets throughout the years. When I was little, I was notorious for bringing snakes and turtles inside the house and keeping them as pets much to the dismay of my mother and sister. I also have always had a great love of drawing and these two loves meshed quite nicely as I would fill sketchbooks with drawings of wildlife. My favorite book was an art book called “Illustrating Nature” by Dorothea and Sy Barlowe. I would pour over this book trying to draw all the amazing animals within it. It still sits on my shelf today. As I got older, my two loves grew with me. I took art and biology classes through high school and decided to go to college for Wildlife Biology. I graduated from Purdue University with B.S. in Wildlife and then receive my M.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University. I worked as a biologist on various projects for nearly 10 years before a move for my wife’s new job left me at a turning point careerwise.
I stayed at home with our two youngest children for a little while and then took a job doing something completely outside my area of expertise. It didn’t take long to realize that these two things were not for me. I had always wanted to have my own business and finally concluded that I should get back to my love of making art. I had done commissions in the past and figured I’d give it a shot. And now here I am. While still uncertain the future looks bright!

Artist Statement:

I have always worked in multiple disciplines and my innate curiosity and imagination have always led me in search of novelty. This is also true in my art as I work in mediums that are often a stark dichotomy of one another. Scratchboard is ridged, delicate, and unforgiving. It requires focused attention. Drawing with ink is fluid in its base and technique. It allows for vivid and wild expression. My artistic mission is to stay curious and create art that strikes people whether that be through the sharp realism of scratchboard or the vibrant creation of colored ink.