Bio
Anke Brooks, (other names Claasen, Hass) was born in Moers, Germany. She is a fine art oil painter in Kalispell, Montana. After studying Communication and Design in Germany, receiving an equivalent to an MS degree, Anke immigrated to the United States and became a self-employed artist in Truckee, California. She exhibited artwork in local galleries and shows and worked mostly on portrait and landscape commissions. From 2004 through 2021, she worked as an art teacher in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District through the non-profit organization Arts For The Schools, now Fox Cultural Hall. During the summers she was known for her Artcamps which she taught for 21 years through the local Recreational Center.
Her hometown was close to the formerly largest Industrial Region along the River Rhine during Cold War West Germany. In contrast, she now lives close to one of the world’s most treasured locations, the Crown of the Continent, Glacier National Park, and the Rocky Mountains. Both extremes inform her paintings and the visual language of her work.
She enjoys family life with her husband, children, and grandchildren, occasionally helps as a volunteer at the local Museum as an art docent, and is involved in her church community. She joined the Plein-Air Painters of the Flathead, Kalispell, Montana, in 2024 and continuously paints outdoors learning.
Artist Statement
My recent work is about painting the Flathead River and the Glacier National Park. It immediately gives me a community of people who share my interest in wildlife refuges, a great recreation destination, and an amazing ecological territory often referred to as the Crown of the Continent. It also is a source of inspiration and a place of living and learning.
In addition, studying light and color is a lifelong pursuit of mine. I love experimenting with pigments, palettes, and new applications.
Exhibits
2025 Plein-Air Painters of the Flathead, Library Show at Columbia Falls, MT
2025 Member Salon, Glacier Art Museum, Kalispell, MT
2024, Member Salon, Hockaday Museum of Art, Kalispell, MT
2021, Library, Truckee, CA
2019, Holman Arts and Media Center, Sierra Nevada College
2018, Santa’s Workshop and Makers Market, Soroptimist Art Fair Sale,
2017, Artrepreneur Pop Up rt Exhibit 6/3/2017, Adam’s Hub, Carson City
2017, 14th Annual Soroptimist Fair
2017, July, Reno Artown, 9th Annual Midtown Art Walk
2017, Invitational Holiday Fair at the Ritz-Carlton, Tahoe
2017, Sagehen National Forest, Master’s Midway Art Portfolio Review with Sam Shear, “Fallen Barn”
2016, Soroptimist International of Truckee Donner, 42nd Soroptimist Faire
2016, Pacific Grove Plein Air Painting Event, Instructor
2015, Judge for Plein Air Show at North Tahoe Arts
2014, Invitational Featured Artist Show at Martis Camp, Family Barn, Truckee
2014, Selected Works at Dragon Fly Restaurant, Truckee, CA
2013, T-PAC Truckee Public Art Commission, Member show at Donner Park and Recreation
District, Truckee, CA
2013, Truckee Airport, Group-Show
2011, Portraits, Martis Camp Resort, Family Barn, Truckee CA
2007, Redeemer Annual Juried Art Show, Faith and Work, Hope in Making, NY.
2006,Selective Works, Dream Dinners, Reno NV
2002-2005, Art in Public Places through North Tahoe Arts
2001, Faces and Places, one person show at the North Tahoe Arts Center, Tahoe City, CA
2000, Unforced Rhythms, Incline Village Improvement District Park + Recreation Department, NV
1999, Yosemite Renaissance XIV, juried and traveling art exhibit through, CA
1999, Residency Printmaking Exhibit, Wolfsburg, Germany
1998, Residency Printmaking Exhibit, Wolfsburg, Germany
1997, Hanging Heads, Portraits at Sun Mountain Artworks, Virginia City, NV
1995-1997, ARTOUR. Artist Studio Tour through the Sierra Artist Network, North Lake Tahoe, Tahoe City, CA
1994, Local Colors, Cottonwood Restaurant, Truckee, CA
