Richard “Rick” Lonsdale

Richard “Rick” Lonsdale is an Inupiaq artist born in 1954. His grandparents are from Teller and Mary’s Igloo near Nome, Alaska. They moved to Pilot Point in the Bristol Bay area in the early 1900’s, where Richard’s mother spent her childhood.

Richard grew up in Anchorage, Alaska watching his grandfather carve ivory faces for his mother’s fur dolls. When Richard was a teenager, he carved wooden faces for his mother’s fur wall hangings. Richard other cultural influences came from relatives that excelled in skin and fur sewing as well as soapstone and caribou antler carving.

As a child Richard showed talent as an illustrator, so when an uncle showed him how to etch on ivory, Richard picked it up right away. He continues to do scrimshaw, however, he enjoys making painted wooden spirit masks as well. His masks are loosely based on traditional Inupiaq designs. He enjoys using his creativity, imagination and cultural stories in making each mask.