Bruce Ulrich

Among the flat expanses of corn and rolling river bottoms, Bruce Ulrich had an idyllic childhood in Peoria, IL during the fifties. He came of age in the turbulent sixties when ideas about what is art, and what is art for, were being shared with a mass audience. Bruce juggled an interest in sports and a track scholarship to college with a love of books and art. Drawing, photography, and playing with clay balanced his study of science, anatomy, and physiology during Chiropractic College.

Bruce always loved going to museums of any sort and valued the small one in Peoria and the larger Chicago Art Institute, with all the Impressionists. Bruce began his chiropractic career and a family in 1979, and within the year he incorporated art into his daily life. He began watercolor painting because it looked simple and glowing on the paper, seemed easier to clean up, and needed less space than clay. During the past 25 years he has enjoyed reading about art and painting, and had the pleasure of studying with many fine teachers. Bruce believes the most growth he makes comes from time spent putting paint on paper.
All his experiences and things he enjoys (food, wine, people, jazz) are grist for painting: from collages of labels, to views of the golf course or vineyards, to people enjoying themselves. If his enjoyment and pleasure in creating connects with you as a viewer of the work, then he feels the piece is successful.

Bruce’s work has been accepted in the National Watercolor Society Annual Show and toured the country in their traveling show. It has also won awards and been included in other national and regional juried shows including Oregon State University’s Art About Agriculture; the Beaverton Showcase; biannual exhibits of the Watercolor Society of Oregon; and Lake Oswego’s Chronicles Show. His work is in private collections in Australia, Japan, the West Coast, and the Midwest. Bruce’s work is currently shown at the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, and the Wy’East Book Shoppe and Art Gallery in Welches, OR.


Bruce Ulrich, Beaverton, OR 503.330.0123