Loryn Zerr's Bio

I grew up as a wee lass in Colorado, surrounded by blue sky, green trees and big mountains with my little Terrier dog and my pet goat.  I was (and still am) the youngest of six siblings...at the same time as, and all of who had the exact lineup of, the Brady Bunch (my oldest brother = Greg, oldest sister = Marcia, next sister = Jan, next bro = Peter, bro = Bobby, and that leaves me to pair up with Cindy....yep.)

I was responsibly irresponsible throughout my twenties and traveled all over the western United States to various tourist destinations and ski resorts, living a working vacation.  Towards the end of that tour, I found myself in St. John in the Virgin Islands for a couple of years working as a snorkeling instructor, as a surveyor on the road crew, as a bartender, and hand-painting clothes for the local Clothing Studio.

Becoming pregnant with my son brought me back to the states and his birth in New Mexico.  From there, I made my way to Missoula to raise him, and to be near one of my sisters and my niece who were living here.  I've made Missoula my home for the last 18 and a half years with no plans of leaving, I absolutely love it here.  My son, Jack, is now grown and is an artist himself.  He comes over for dinner every now and then to see me and his step-dad (my wonderful computer geek/scientist husband, William) and our two big dogs and three cats.

In the meantime, I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and my BA in Art Education, both at the University of Montana.  I have since been teaching art here and there: at The Missoula Art Museum, at Sentinel High, the ZACC, Flagship programs, the Clay Studio, and Sussex School.  I've always loved to make art and I make it whenever I can.  I've had pieces shown occasionally about town over the years, and am glad to say this is my second time to be involved with Montana Skate Park as I had a deck in the On Deck 5 show.

~ Artist Statement ~ I'm inspired by the underlying secrets and the undercurrents of life: dreams, myths, stories, icons and ideas of a sacred nature....I'm inspired by the physical body: balance, dance, and movement, stories and communication through the hands: gestures, mudras and sign language...And I'm inspired by the natural world: its mystery and perfection, its beauty, its continual cycles, tides, push, pull, growth, decay..and our connection to it.  I work intuitively, and I find that when I create art, elements from all of these come into play.

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