Off the Cuff with Sarah Glaser
Sarah Glaser
Kerry Tasker
Between helping her fiancé track wolves around Healy for three months last winter toward his PhD in spatial ecology and their trip this summer, spending a week or two at Ruth Gorge in the Alaska Range, Sarah Glaser experienced a burst of creativity. In addition to designing the cover for this issue of Alaska Business, she spent six weeks in Nashville building a soccer stadium.
Art is her life, and welding is her trade. After growing up in Moose Pass, Glaser learned to weld at the state technical school down the road in Seward. For the last six or seven years, she’s mixed construction with illustration. Her website sarahkglaser.be offers her full-color drawings of wildlife, backcountry sports, and aerial landscapes as prints, stickers, and apparel. She says she takes enjoyment from surprising her audience with details hidden in an image. Among her next projects is a harvest handbook for St. Paul Island.
One other note: her name is pronounced “glasser,” no matter how it’s spelled. “I’ll answer to ‘glacier,’” she says. “I’ve always wished it was Glacier rather than Glaser.”
Alaska Business: What book is currently on your nightstand?
Sarah Glaser: American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella.
AB: What charity or cause are you passionate about?
Glaser: Alaska Public Media. Food Bank of Alaska [which is receiving proceeds from the sale of Alaska Business merchandise featuring Glaser’s art].
AB: What do you do in your free time?
Glaser: Backcountry snowboard. Whitewater pack rafting.
AB: What’s your favorite local restaurant?
Glaser: Rustic Goat. Don’t tell anyone, though.
AB: If you could domesticate a wild animal, what animal would it be?
Glaser: We’re adopting a retired husky from the National Park Service kennels… I think he’s a little bit wild… That’s kind of like a wild wolf.
Kerry Tasker (right) takes Sarah Glaser’s portrait at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.
Alaska Business
Current Issue
June 2023
AB: What is the first thing you do when you get home after a long day at work?
Glaser: When I’m doing art and I’ve been inside all day, I get outside after work and ski and bike and hike and run.
AB: What is your greatest extravagance?
AB: What’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?
AB: Is there anything you’re superstitious about?
AB: Dead or alive, who would you like to see perform live in concert?
AB: What’s your best attribute and worst attribute?
AB: Is there a skill you’re currently developing or have always wanted to learn?
Glaser: Taking an illustration course on children’s book illustration… I’ve done some instructional illustration books and it’d be fun to hone those skills… There’s a lot to learn.
AB: Other than your current career, if you were a kid today, what would your dream job be?
Glaser: I’m very intrigued by metal working art. Took some jewelry making and blacksmithing courses last fall when we were in Seattle… those were very fun. Metal and fire are very fun.
This year the Alaska Railroad is celebrating 100 years of transportation people and cargo around Alaska. While the railroad is one of the states oldest transporters, it certainly isn’t the only one, and in this issue of Alaska Business we also check in on the Marine Highway, Span Alaska, and the White Pass & Yukon Route. For those interested in Southeast, our focus on that region provides updates on Kensington Mine, Tongass FCU, the troll fishery, and Juneau’s growing landfill.