About

Alec Zemper

Grand Rapids, MI


I am a self-taught painter originally from Howell, MI. My relationship to painting and creating has been a wandering one. Unable to afford college out of high school, I moved to Long Island and began making a living along the east coast maintaining and restoring traditional wooden sailboats. In my down time I would draw while I studied from older books of my favorite 19th century representational painters. I continued teaching sailing professionally for a few years until I decided to shift my focus to building a life as a painter.

I later moved to Oregon to open an art studio with the intention of creating affordable means for young artists to learn technical skills and cultivate a community around representational work. I spent a year remodeling a 19th century mounted police station and opened The Stables studio in downtown Portland in 2008.

I am a currently a mentor and instructor of Advanced Painting at Interlochen Center for The Arts and teach weekly classes and private lessons out of my personal studio and workshop GHOSTHOUSE in Grand Rapids, MI.



teaching

  • Interlochen Center for The Arts (Interlochen, MI)

Instructor of Advanced Paitning

Instructor of Drawing & Painting

  • The Stables Studio (Portland, OR)

Owner and full time Instructor of life drawing and painting

  • Oregon Society of Artists

Instructor of Life Drawing

  • Oregon College of Art and Craft

Instructor of Drawing

  • OHSU Chinese School

Academic Drawing Instructor

education

  • Grand Central Academy 14-15

  • Florence Academy of Art 16-17