How do you celebrate your birthday when you hit 60? If you are Colorado artist Ralph Oberg, you book a trip to Nepal. While it might not be on everyone’s bucket list, Oberg wanted to satisfy a deep longing to see the infamous peaks of that remote country. It was fittingly his first trip off the North American continent.

Ralph Oberg

Born to Run
Oil
28″x36″
“By three weeks of age, pronghorn fawns are on their feet, ready to go. To avoid predators and keep up with mom, this is an important evolutionary adaptation. Soon they can run with the herd effortlessly.”

Ralph Oberg

Ice Fall
Oil
42″x42″
“While in the Bernese Alps, I had the chance to hike up to the Fiescherhorn Glacier in the canyon above Grindelwald and just east of the Eiger. I carried my paints on this six-mile day hike and did a 12” by 10” plein air study of this little meltwater fall coming down beside the remnant icefall, formed when a glacier moves over a steep cliff and breaks up into seracs. All the world’s glaciers are melting extremely fast. I have been in Alaska, Canada, the Himalayas, and the Alps and seen clear evidence of rapid ice melt that has occurred during our lifetimes. Historic photos show the changes very dramatically. This piece is my visual warning about global warming.” This painting won the Best of Show – Painting at the 2014 CAC Gold Medal Show.