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From oil patch to oil paint Young Alpine project welder takes the advice of older coworkers, pursues career in art Tom Hall PNA Contributing Writer
It is a rare thing to encounter someone with a talent so obvious that it would seem unthinkable that such a person would pursue anything but the expression of that talent. Such a person is Seward’s Chris Wakefield, a young, gifted artist who is currently pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree at the University of Anchorage Alaska.
Getting to this point in his life involved a few detours along the way — detours that could easily have led to Wakefield forsaking his artistic talent because of the needs of his young family.
From high school student to world traveler Following his graduation from a South Dakota high school in 1988, a restless Wakefield did some missionary work in Australia and India. His first visit to Alaska came in 1989 when he worked for a commercial fishing outfit out of Dutch Harbor. After bouncing around between South Dakota (where he helped his parents move to Alaska) Hawaii and Colorado, Wakefield returned to Alaska and after another stint of commercial fishing, he settled in Seward.
Confronting the real world There he met his wife of five years. After they married, he returned once again to South Dakota where he attended college for two years. With their first child on the way, the young couple decided to return to Seward to be close to their families.
Wakefield began to look for steady work. He found it after attending Kenai Peninsula College to learn structural welding.
“Before I knew it, I had a job with APC (Alaska Petroleum Contractors),” he told PNA. “I took a test for the Alpine project and got hired.”
Wakefield had had no previous welding experience and thought the schooling was “great fun. ... You get to use electricity, zap rods together, weld two pieces of metal together, and have this great structure when you’re done,” he said.
Though the work was physically and mentally demanding, it paid well and Wakefield saw a future in it.
“A lot of old timers were retiring, quitting. There was a surge in the industry for young guns,” he said, and wondered, “How can I miss? How can I lose?”
Looking at a lucrative career Wakefield fully intended to pursue welding — the money was great and, though the hours were long, the work was satisfying.
Working 12-hour shifts, Wakefield noted, “At first it was five days a week, then it went to six, and then it was seven days a week.”
He had little to complain about because he was bringing home the biggest paychecks of his young life.
“I was pulling down a lot of money in a short period of time. I was getting checks that were about $1800. It was great,” he said. “It paid a lot of bills and we got some savings out of it.”
During breaks and meals at work, Wakefield would draw or paint (he even painted his helmet) and it wasn’t long before his coworkers recognized his talent as something much more than casual doodling.
Approaching the crossroads Toward the end of his work at the Alpine project, a series of factors converged which made Wakefield rethink his future. First, he began to learn about the vagaries of the oil economy and its impact on people in the welding profession.
“The guys in the industry told me that it’s a feast or famine thing. You can work for nine months, then not have a job for nine months,” he told PNA. “It’s up-down, up-down.”
Second, even though he had considered it, Wakefield said that he couldn’t get work on the slope because nobody was hiring.
Low oil prices stalled hiring and being low man on the totem pole meant that he would have a long wait before he might be hired.
“The delay in the (BP and ARCO) merger didn’t help either,” he said. “I know a lot of guys who went down to Louisiana and Texas to get jobs in the shipyards where they were hiring.”
Perhaps more than any other factor, however, was the influence of Wakefield’s older coworkers. Impressed with his talent, they encouraged the young artist to get out of welding and capitalize on his talent. Welding, they had told him, would always be there.
“The old timers told me, ‘We can tell you’re not happy dude, and if we see you out here again, we’re going to whack you,’” said Wakefield.
These seasoned veterans knew he was there trying to be a good husband, father and provider, but they also recognized that he had a special gift that could not be ignored.
Wakefield appreciated their advice and took it to heart, but he knew it was going to be far from easy. He had considered pursuing his art as a sideline but knew that with kids he probably wouldn’t have a lot of time. He also knew that he wanted to go back to school and finish his degree. It was crunch time.
“I just basically thought that now is the time to do it,” he said.
Getting help along the way Painfully aware that he was going to need a lot of help and support, Wakefield first discussed his dream with his wife, Jennifer. She was, understandably, hesitant at first because she didn’t see how they could manage financially.
Her parents came to the rescue and invited them to come live with them — and more.
“My father-in-law actually made a place in the basement where I could have a studio,” said Wakefield. “I didn’t have that before. I used our kitchen counter.”
Help also came from Wakefield’s mother who helps with the kids when he has homework.
“If it weren’t for her parents and my parents, I’d probably still be welding and hating it and regretting it,” he said.
Looking back Yet, Wakefield confessed that there were some aspects of the welding trade that he missed, particularly the people.
“I miss the camaraderie of welding with the guys, hanging out with them and getting to know them,” he mused. “You have kind of a bond with them when you’re doing stuff like that (the Alpine project).”
He said that if he had to, he would go back to welding “and be thankful that I have the ability to fall back on it.”
Moreover he is grateful that APC and the Alpine project were there so that he could learn such a valuable trade — one that he has applied to his metal sculpting.
Pursuing the dream Commuting from Seward twice weekly, Wakefield has found that what he is getting from school is well worth the sacrifices he and his family have had to make so far.
“There’s techniques and knowledge that you learn from teachers that you can’t get from a book,” he told PNA. “They look at your work and say, ‘This is what you need to work on and this is why.’”
Although he is leaning toward painting, Wakefield hasn’t decided if he will concentrate on that or on sculpture.
Eventually, Wakefield would like to open his own gallery and represent artists that don’t do “typical Alaska art work.”
“I think there is room in Alaska for another art gallery that does modern, progressive art work that’s not necessarily salmon or moose or eagles,” he said.
Looking ahead So far, Wakefield hasn’t found a business class for art at UAA, but believes it would beneficial to artists if they had such classes.
“Artists have the talent,” he said, “but what do you do with it? How do you make a living at it?”
Until about six months ago, he wasn’t interested in selling his art.
“I just didn’t want to sell anything at that point because I didn’t know what I wanted to sell or what I wanted the public to have,” he explained.
With the help of some of his professors on valuing his art for the marketplace, Wakefield is concentrating on getting his work noticed...and sold.
In May, some of his work was featured at the Resurrection Bay Art Gallery in Seward and last year he won two awards at the Seward Fall Art Show. In addition to talking to other galleries about displaying his work, he is developing a web page.
What is his favorite medium? Why, oil, of course.
Editor’s Note: Chris Wakefield can be reached at Wakefield Studio, P.O. Box 2522, Seward, Alaska 99664, email [email protected].
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