Main Story, May 12, 2004

A Painter’s Quest to Norway

A Painter’s Quest to Norway

Issue 19, May 12, 2004:

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Issue 19, May 12, 2004:

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With the hope of tracking down his relatives, and maybe learning more about his own history, the acclaimed Norwegian-American artist Peter Even Egeli headed off to Norway with his wife in 1995. The journey resulted in new friends for life.

By IRINA LEE
Drayden, Maryland

With the hope of tracking down his relatives, and maybe learning more about his own history, the acclaimed Norwegian-American artist Peter Even Egeli headed off to Norway with his wife in 1995. The journey resulted in new friends for life. By IRINA LEE Drayden, Maryland

With the hope of tracking down his relatives, and maybe learning more about his own history, the acclaimed Norwegian-American artist Peter Even Egeli headed off to Norway with his wife in 1995. The journey resulted in new friends for life.

By IRINA LEE
Drayden, Maryland

A Painter’s Quest to Norway

With the hope of tracking down his relatives, and maybe learning more about his own history, the acclaimed Norwegian-American artist Peter Even Egeli headed off to Norway with his wife in 1995. The journey resulted in new friends for life.

By IRINA LEE
Drayden, Maryland

Peter and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart Wilkinson Egeli, had talked about going to Norway for several years before finally realizing their dream in 1995.

Left Norway at Age 15
Peter’s father, Bjorn Peter Egeli, had left Norway at age 15 and settled down in the U.S. Egeli Senior, like many of his fellow emigrants from the Old Country, did not take much pride in keeping his Norwegian heritage alive. He raised his three sons and two daughters to be Americans.

"I had been interested in genealogy for a number of years, and I’ve managed to track down some of my own Irish family. Right after we married in 1963, I decided to look into Peter’s family as well," Peter’s wife explained, who only goes by the nickname "Stu".

In 1995 the couple headed off to Norway, and even stopped by the little island of Hidra just off the coast of Flekkefjord, the birthplace of Peter Egeli’s grandmother, Josephine Mathilde Wennerström. The journey connected Peter with many of his Norwegian relatives, and the expedition even gave him friends for life. It also inspired him to write a story about the trip.

"We went back to Norway in 1997, and we have already made plans to go back in May 2005 to take part in the 100th anniversary celebration of Norway’s independence," Peter and his wife Stu explained.

The couple resides at a beautiful mansion on the banks of the St. Mary’s River in Drayden, Maryland. The grounds surrounding the main house incorporate several garden areas, including a fish pond, a beautiful guest house, and Peter’s art studio, which smells of turpentine and linseed oil. Next door is an old garage that holds Peter’s veteran Rolls Royce and his carpenter’s workshop. Down by the river, the Egelis have built a pier and gazebo.

"We bought the property in 1968, mainly because of its location," the couple, who both are Maryland natives, said.
For the past three and a half decades the Egelis have spent numerous hours refurbishing their house and gardens to create a beautiful home and work space for both of them.
"In many ways I guess you can call us a family business, although it is an unusual way of making a living," Stu said.

First Lesson at Five
Peter E. Egeli has been a painter and an artist all his life, and has made a good living of his trade. He still remembers how his mother, Lois Baldwin, who also was a painter, gave him his first lesson in perspective drawing when he was only five years old. Peter’s father was also an acclaimed painter and artist, and all of Peter’s siblings also paint.

"I grew up around art, and my father taught me a lot," Peter said.

No wonder, maybe, that Peter met his wife during an art class at St. Mary’s College in 1962. He was a teacher – she was his student. They married a year later. She still paints occasionally, as well as their two children.

"We arranged a family exhibition back in 1985, which included work from 11 family members," Peter recalled.

The exhibition took place at The Life of Maryland Gallery in Baltimore, and was the first time the Egeli artists exhibited together. By then, the Egeli family members had produced over 2,000 portraits, murals, landscapes, and marine paintings. In many ways, the exhibition was a memorial to Peter’s father, who had passed away in October 1984.

"I haven’t kept count, but I’ve probably done at least 500 portraits. On average, I produce 10 portraits a year, but some years I managed to do 12 or 14," Peter said.

The Egeli home is in many ways a family gallery, where numerous paintings created by Peter, his wife, and their children decorate the walls. In the spacious dining room, a self portrait of Peter wih his palette overlooks the dinner table. On the opposite wall hangs his first portrait of Stu.

"I think we had been married for ten years before he painted me," Stu recalled with a laugh.

Peter has one criteria for a good portrait: "It has to feel just as if you’re standing in front of the exact person!"

To achieve this, Peter insists that anyone who wants their portraits done has to pose for him personally. Except for a few post mortem portraits, Peter has met all of his clients, and befriended several of them.

"To create the portrait exactly as I want, I have to meet the person over a period of time. We usually have five sittings, maybe for a couple of hours each time. But it’s not like they have to sit still the whole time. After twenty minutes or so, they can take a break, before I ask them to resume their position. And we always talk during the session. You can’t imagine how many interesting conversations I have had during all these years," Peter said.

Although a few have declined to have their portrait done by Peter, because of his requirement of personal sittings, Peter has met and portrayed a long, long list of notable and powerful people. Among them are Dick Cheney, who Peter painted back in 1995, while he was Secretary of State.

"He loves fishing, salmon and trout fishing," Peter recalled, who went to Cheney’s office to do the sittings with him.
"At one point his wife came in and commented on the work."
That’s just the way Peter wants it. When he feels that he’s about to finish a portrait, he always invites someone close to the person to ask for advice.

Useful Advise
"Remember, the spouse or the secretary sees this person every single day, and they can often tell me if some details should be corrected or done differently," Peter says.

"When you get to that point where you say to the canvas, ‘Excuse me while I’m painting you under your nose’, you usually know that you’re done," Peter said with a smile.

Peter paints every day, and works on several portraits at a time. While working on one portrait, he can suddenly feel the urge to run over to another portrait and add a stroke or two. In between all of his commissioned work, he even finds time to do landscapes and maritime paintings. The latter made him a Charter member, and former President and Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists.
In addition, he has several other hobbies, including writing, building ship models and fully equipped sail boats, and working on his veteran Rolls Royce, which for the time being sits in pieces in his garage.

Long Hours
"I get up at six or seven, and start working in the studio by eight o’clock. I continue working until noon, have lunch, and continue working at 12:30. I work through the rest of the afternoon until we have dinner, at around 6:30 p.m.," Peter said.

"Sometimes I even work in the evenings," he added.
All of Peter’s portraits are life-size, and the price for a 3/4 portrait is $35,000. He starts his work by taking a series of photographs, which he uses as an aid to compose the painting. At the second sitting, he begins the actual painting. After 6 to 9 months, and hundreds of hours in front of the canvas, he is ready to put a final stroke on a portrait.
"My father always knew when to stop, and he was truly a master of painting portraits. His principle was to keep it simple, but to be accurate within the simplicity. I try to follow the same rule," Peter said.

Peter celebrated his 70th birthday on April 19, 2004, and as a gift to a husband that didn’t have many earthly items on his wish list, Stu decided to give him something very special – and very personal.

"I sent out letters to more than 200 persons that Peter had made portraits of throughout the years. I asked them to send him a little greeting, and maybe write down some of the things they could remember from the sittings with Peter," Stu explained.

She spent months tracking down current information and addresses of the persons Peter had portrayed, and she received more than 100 replies. She collected all the letters and attached photos Peter had taken of the persons while he had painted them, before putting them all together in a binder.

After reading some of the letters, it is clearly not only his clients who have left a lasting impression on Peter. The artist himself has left a mark on many of the people he has met and portrayed.

In his greeting to Peter, Thomas M. Lofton wrote: "Peter E. Egeli is a Renaissance man!" Another of his clients, Charles R. Longsworth, had this to say in his personal greeting to the painter: "Sitting for you was certainly one of the happiest times I have ever spent on my bottom!"

Publisher: Marianne O. Jawanda • Editor-in-Chief: Erik Modal • Managing Editor: Vigdis Aure Modal
• Office Manager: Elin Strong • Copy Editor: Michelle Ferguson

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