Visit Our Park

Come see        Glen Kratzer

thoughtful art pieces on display

now through

the end of October

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       Artist Statement and Biography

Glenn S. Kratzer, M.D.

                When I entered Muhlenberg College in 1966, I had little education or interest in art.  However, to graduate, I was required to take a course in either music or a fine art.  I waited till the last semester of my senior year to take “Modern Art in the Making”, taught by Professor Alfred Colarusso, an excellent local artist in his own right.  I took the course pass-fail thinking I would put in as little effort as necessary to pass. To my surprise I loved the course!  It was probably my favorite course in the four years I spent at Muhlenberg.  It was the only course for which I pulled and “all-nighter”.  I stayed up all night with two fraternity brothers, drinking beer, and eating pizza, as we quizzed each other about the artists and their paintings found in art books borrowed from the Muhlenberg College library.  I got an A on that course!  Since then, I have always enjoyed going to museums and galleries to view and appreciate fine paintings.  But I had no expectation that I could ever BE an ARTIST.

                After graduating from Muhlenberg, I spent the next 51 years in the Medical Profession.

                Ten years ago, my wife and I visited a puzzle and used bookstore in a small town in Wisconsin.  As we were paying for our purchases, she placed in front of me a used copy of the book, Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain, by Betty Edwards.  Given my medical background, the title intrigued me.  So, we added it to our selection of puzzles purchased for our grandchildren.  When I got home, I read the book, did the exercises, and found that, with proper education, I could learn to draw! Encouraged by my wife, I enrolled in an adult art class at Penn State, Lehigh Valley Campus, taught by local artist and professor, Ronald DeLong.  I studied with him for 10 years. 

                As I approached retirement, I recalled a lecture I attended 20 years ago at a medical conference in   La Quinta, California.  The speaker, a retired physician, spoke about reinventing oneself as one ages. He had in fact “reinvented himself” several times. His current career was speaking about that very topic, “personal reinvention”.  With the end of my medical career approaching, I began to wonder how I would fill my time, how would I “reinvent myself”.  It eventually became clear to me that my second career would be that of Artist. 

                The life of a physician is a mixture of highs and lows.  There are times we vicariously share our patients’ depression, sorrow, pain, and loss as they face their illness or that of their loved ones.    But there are also times when we share their happiness as they recover from illness or when they share their personal stories with us, stories about their lives, their families, their personal goals, work, and pastimes.  

                In my second career, that of artist, my goal is to paint pictures which may, in some way, provide viewers with momentary relief from the cares of life. My paintings are mostly landscapes, still lives and an occasional portrait.  I hope these pictures provoke a smile, a pleasant memory, or perhaps offer temporary relief from whatever challenges one might be facing.            

 Glenn

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