Alan Schmid

After earning a bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, drawing and painting became a hobby started under the tutelage of his father, Albert, a well-known watercolor artist. In 1984, after 25 years as an art director for the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency in Chicago, Allan took early retirement and he and his wife Nancy (see link below), a quilter, moved to their new log home in the Baraboo Bluffs.

Allan draws and paints realistically in order to try to capture the season, time of day, weather condition or the mood of the subject. Allan also has a desire to record a beautiful scene or historic site before it disappears from age or neglect or is torn down to make way for new development. Many of the farm and small village subjects that Allan and his father painted in Illinois have now disappeared. "The Sauk County area is one of the most beautiful we have seen and we feel fortunate to be able to live here," says Allan.