Artwork copyright Colleen Sibelman. Photo courtesy of Washington State Arts Commission.

Western Hemlocks, 2001

Colleen Sibelman
American New Zealander (born 1938)

Location: Federal Way High School, Federal Way

About the Artwork

Artist Colleen Sibelman captured the image Western Hemlocks near Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. She notes, "From earliest days I have been drawn to the natural world and therefore gravitate toward that world in my art. I find great satisfaction in the quietude of the wilderness… Here, the forests have a special quality; a grandeur, a density that I feel compelled to capture on film. Mostly I prefer 'close in' images rather than the big panorama. I love the 'details' of nature."

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Federal Way Public Schools.

About the Artist

Port Townsend, Washington-based artist Colleen Sibelman's photography captures the distinct and various plants and animals of the Northwest landscape.
Sibelman was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. She served as a registered nurse, and lived in Samoa, Japan, and Australia. She then moved to Washington D.C., where she received a certificate of Fine Arts in printmaking from the Corcoran School of Art in 1984. She later moved to San Diego where she worked as an emergency nurse for several years. After retiring, Sibelman took up photography and settled in Port Angeles, on the Olympic Peninsula in Northwestern Washington.