I was born in Yosemite National Park in 1952 and fortunate as a young boy to live in this "Valley of the Giants" with its gleaming cliffs and green meadows. My dad, a park ranger, helped me appreciate the beauty of this natural world and this experience stayed with me all my life. In the years to come, my family moved to some of America's most beautiful wilderness areas. I lived in Port Angeles, Washington where I enjoyed fishing and hiking with my brothers in the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula and later onto Estes Park, Colorado. In 1972 I attended the University of Washington in Seattle to discover where my abilities would take me in art. While learning about all aspects of painting and drawing I developed an attraction to the field of commercial illustration. Two years later, I was accepted in the renowned Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California where I explored different styles and techniques of illustration. I found realism a discipline I enjoyed most. Upon graduating in 1977 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration I did a variety of commercial work in Los Angeles that appeared in national magazines and advertisements.

As much as I enjoy living in Pasadena, I always look forward to escaping into the high Alpine country of the Sierra Nevada mountains every summer to reinvigorate my love for the wilderness. While I'm busy with my commercial illustration work I'm eager to begin a new venture devoting more time painting nature's beauty and sharing these experiences with others.

— Chris Gallison