Lars Baggenstos

http://www.larsbaggenstos.com/

Lars Baggenstos was born right at the Coastline of the North Sea in Germany, and until he was five years of age he smelt the salty sea every day. During that time he was already surrounded by drawing and painting people. Karl Neumann, his grandfather, was a landscape painter and Lars spend hours watching him mixing turpentine with oil colours. His father, Markus Baggenstos, worked as a drawing and sculpting teacher at the crafts and recreational center in Bremerhaven, Germany. It was during this time that Lars picked up his first pencil.

When he was five, he moved with his parents to Switzerland. It was there that he discovered his passion for forests, mountains and everything living in them. During his elementary and highschool years, drawing was his way to escape into the realm of wildife, mystery and nature. But it was in school that he discovered his other creative field, sculpting. After he finished highschool, enrollment in the Woodcarving School of Brienz came quite naturally. He spent four years In the heart of the Bernese Alps learning the tricks of the wood carving trade.

After five years of working in sculpting in mediums from wood to stainless steel, the urge to broaden his skills led him to theZürcher Hochschule der Künste (Zürich School of Arts). He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts ZFH in Visual Communication with a specialization in Scientific Visualization. Since then, he has worked as a freelance illustrator for clients including the Naturhistorisches Museum of Basel (Basel Natural History Museum) and Tourism Uri,  and as a sculptor for theater and movie sets. His love for the great outdoors brought him just recently to Rossland BC, Canada, where he currently lives with his wife (who is Canadian) and dog. When Lars is not at his drawing table, he is swinging a chainsaw, paddling turbulent whitewater or tracking down animals in the backcountry.