The Art of H. Craig Whitcomb

Craig Whitcomb is a member of Northwest Watercolor Society, Spokane Watercolor Society, Palouse Watercolor Socius, Snake River Showcase and Bridging the Arts. Graduate of WSU and University of Idaho, has been painting for over 50 years and works in watercolor, acrylic, pastels and graphite. Subject matter ranges from portraits, through English thatched cottages, Native American Indian regalia, Japanese Shinto Temples to wildlife reflecting his catholic interests and extensive travel experiences in some 40 countries and work experiences and Southeast Asia including work for the Chinese and Japanese governments. His paintings reflect many influences from oriental to contemporary realism. He has exhibited with the Oldfield Western and Wildlife Show, Carnegie Center, Walla Walla, Gritman Hospital, Jacklin Center, Post Falls, Chase Gallery, Museum of Arts and Cultures, Spokane, Lewis Clark State College Art and History Gallery, International Miniature Show, Florida, and in Virginia, Texas, Nebraska as well as England and Japan.

H. Craig Whitcomb was born in Walla Walla, WA., and reared in the Lewiston Clarkston Valley by pioneering families on both sides. He graduated from Lewiston High School in 1957 and Washington State University in 1961. Subsequent degrees followed from LCSC and the University of Idaho.

After college, Craig served in the USAF for twenty years, living and working in a variety of US locations, as well as overseas in England, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. While at the Pentagon, he met his wife Stephanie, of Aruba Dutch West Indies.

He taught in Local schools after retirement from the military. At Walla Walla Community College he taught art, philosophy, English, history and other disciplines. He also taught in the College of Education at the University of Idaho, in Shanghai, China for the Chinese government and in Japan under the sponsorship of the College of Education at Washington State University. He was twice selected for the National Endowment for the Humanities grants for high school and college teachers in Chinese Studies, has received several Idaho Humanities Council grants, and has been awarded the Grace Nixon Foundation Grant (UI) for English studies. He has two grown children and three grandchildren all of whom live in Spokane, Washington.