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 Troll-curios. Pop-artist, science freak, teacher, all wrapped up into
one, Ray Troll uses his talents to create museum exhibit pieces like
the blue trilobite table and wearable art like the hat and the
sweatshirt. The assortment of teeth and artifacts is scattered around
Troll's studio. The license plate is Troll's own, and the life-sized
version of Troll's Evolvo was realized by Denver artist Chuck Parson
for an exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Impact of the environment
When he rode the ferry into Ketchikan in the early summer of
1983, a 29-year-old Ray discovered some of what he'd had in
Pullman, a tight community of artists, local characters, and
musicians who could prompt and foster his creativity. Now Ray hangs
out with printmaker Evon Zerbetz, and his gallery connects to
native artist Marvin Oliver's. He's active in the local arts
council, is a regular at the high school and the historical museum,
hosts a radio show, and shares his talent as an illustrator for
regional environmental causes.
Built on a steep hill and partially set on pilings over the
water, Ketchikan is a town with as many stairways as sidewalks.
It's a place where rubber hipwaders are standard attire, and where
fish smokers are part of the patio furniture.
Here Ray found a family. He met and married Michelle, a graphic
designer working at the local newspaper. They settled into a 1910
home built part-way up the hill, with space in the back yard for a
studio. Michelle, a Tacoma native, is a cool foil to Ray's spicy
energy. Their children, Corinna, now away at college, and Patrick,
a high-school junior, are a blend.
Ray Troll's family tree, a drawing he did for his Planet
Ocean book, starts with stardust, reaches up into bacteria,
splits off into plants on one side, and on the other, animals
branching up into vertebrates, moving past chordates, sharks,
reptiles, and dinosaurs to mammals. You don't see it in that
picture, but Ray's own family tree is just as important. He may
enjoy his artist's life, but his greatest satisfaction comes from
his wife and kids, he says.
Mealtime at the Troll house is a delicious affair, with Michelle
turning from the pasta dish she is inventing to warn Ray not to get
too absorbed in the computer before dinner.
Sitting down at the table, Ray mentions an award, a medal, he's
getting next spring. "My bling," he calls it, saying he's going to
wear it all the time, just like Flavor Flav.
Patrick, a big kid with a tangle of red hair, scarfs most of his
meal before announcing, "We had school pictures today." Everyone
looks up. "I wore funny glasses. I borrowed Dad's."
Michelle rolls her eyes, "OK."
A few beats pass.
"And I may have made a funny expression," he says. His mother
groans.
A smile slips over Rays face as he glances around the table,
seeming to say, "Look what I made."
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Evon Zerbetz found her calling after college, in an art
class she was taking from Ray Troll.
Though the Alaska native attended Washington State University the
same time as Ray, the two never met. Evon was an undergraduate
majoring in food science; Ray was a grad student who spent most of
his hours in his studio.
After graduating in 1982, Evon moved home to Alaska and for a few
years tried a variety of jobs and art forms. Then one year, she
took Ray's class at the University of Alaska and discovered the
medium that has brought her success: linocut prints.
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