My schooling took me all over the country. I started at the School of Associated Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota, then moved on to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and Art Center School in Los Angeles. In between, I served in the U.S. Air Force as an artist-illustrator, adding to my experience as I went. In Japan, and later in the deep South, I learned to adjust to different ways of looking at the same thing and increasing my understanding.
When we were young kids, our dad would often entertain my sister and me by telling stories and illustrating them with pencil drawings. It seemed like 'magic' that he could make a picture for us with a few lines on a piece of paper. I knew even then that I had to be artist.
To this day, I still get that rush of pleasure when I 'nail' a sketch, or get a detail just right on a painting. I think that's what motivates all artists.
- Werner Pipkorn