Artist Name: Ian Petersen
Title: "Columbia River Gorge"
Medium: Digital
Dimensions: 10x10x3/8” (including frame)
 
Map What Matters: This idea guides the creation of my maps. To include only what is essential to a place. Maps that feel like poetry rather than long prose.I draw boundaries to encapsulate a place, delineating with ridges, waterways, and contours. Within the bounds, I accentuate the unique topography of that place. These forms have an abstract quality, yet are detailed maps of real places.
This blend of precise GIS mapping & digital drawing I endearingly call cARTography.
 
My lifelong love of maps & the outdoors began with childhood backpacking trips. As a former ecologist, I was always fascinated by the connection and isolation of landscapes. I began creating maps as gifts to friends for places we held dear. Eventually, I left academia to fully pursue cartography, merging my love for the outdoors, science & unique perspective.
 
Copyright 2025 Ian Petersen