Ben Firth Studio: The Artwork of the Firth Family
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Ben Firth moved to Alaska with his family in 1996. Art was his goal from the beginning, but he also worked as a taxidermist in Pennsylvania, which enhanced his wildlife art. He now displays and sells his own artwork, as well as his family’s (seven of his eight children are artists) in Ben Firth Studio at Mile 161 Sterling Highway. Ben enjoys carving the native moose and caribou antlers, drawing in pencil, woodcarving, and experimenting in colored pencil, scratchboard, and recently oils. He has also cast bronze sculptures in the past, and his own foundry is a goal for the future. Ice carving is a winter fascination. Ben has competed in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Soldotna; his Multi-Block team, using his designs, has twice placed “First” in the Abstract Division in the Fairbanks World Championship. |
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Aurora Firth has been in Alaska since 1996, when she moved from Pennsylvania with her family. The oldest of eight siblings, she has been exhibiting her work since age 12 and now sells art in the family studio, as well as giving art lessons to children. She has competed in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Contest, placing “Best of Show” in Alaska in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005. She was chosen as the featured artist for the 2010 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, teaching a drawing class for adults and another for children as well as doing the 2010 Festival theme painting. Aurora has also competed in ice carving competitions in Fairbanks, Anchorage and Soldotna, carving with her dad and two of her brothers. |
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Sarah Firth has lived in Alaska since 1996, and has lived in her family’s current home in Anchor Point since 2001. She is currently 18 years old and is the third of eight siblings. She has been an artist for as long as she can remember…ever since she could hold a pencil and scribble. Her preferred medium is pencil, chiefly colored pencil, but she has dabbled in painting and pastels. She enjoys drawing wildlife and plants, but her favorite subjects right now are vehicles—cars and boats and aircraft. She works mainly from photographic reference. She has entered the National Junior Duck Stamp Design contest for the past nine years, and has won various awards, including four “Best of Show” awards for her last four entries. Her “Best of Show” pieces then went on to represent Alaska in the national contest and two of them went on to place in the national Top Ten. |
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Silas Firth is the fourth of eight children, and was born in Pennsylvania. He has lived in Alaska since he was 2 years old. Working mainly with colored pencils, Silas has entered the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest since 2002. Two “Honorable Mentions” and five “First Place(s)” later, he is still drawing, although his art has now branched into other forms as well. He has done several small wood carvings, and has been carving ice for a number of years. In 2009, he and his oldest sister, Aurora, entered the Alaska State Ice Carving Competition in Soldotna and placed 3rd. In 2008, Silas began creating handmade pens, selling them in his family’s art studio and online. Although he experiments with various materials from all over the world, his special interest is working with unique Alaskan materials including birch, fossilized woolly mammoth bone, and moose and caribou antler. |
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Josiah Firth was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, and moved to Anchor
Point in 2001. He is 14 years old, with four older siblings and three
younger ones. He does most of his work in colored pencil, but prefers
wood burning. He has also done some ice carving and pen turning. He
enjoys drawing Alaska’s landscapes and wildlife most, but has done a
lot of other artwork, such as North American ducks. He has won an
“honorable mention”, a “third place”, a “second place”, and four
“first place(s)” in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest.
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