A UND graduate-turned-artist takes a brush with the wild

GRAND FORKS — From an early age, Chuck Black seemed destined to play a part in telling the stories of wildlife. Growing up in Stillwater, Minnesota, under the tutelage of parents who respected the outdoors, planted positive seeds in his upbringing. He d get outside and hunt wildlife with his dad and enjoy other aspects of the outdoors, which instilled within him an appreciation for the landscape and the critters, large and small, that inhabit it. Eventually, he decided to pursue a degree in wildlife biology. To do that, he moved to Grand Forks and attended the University of North Dakota, where he earned his degree in 2010. Thereafter, he worked several years for various state and federal wildlife agencies, deepening his appreciation of the natural environment and its wildlife. That, in turn, influenced another aspect of his life: his art. Black had been sketching wildlife for years, but the charcoal pencil eventually turned into other artistic mediums such as acrylic and