Born in Wichita, Kansas in 1946, Kerne Erickson came to California to attend the Art Center College of Design (then located in Los Angeles) on a scholarship from General Motors.  His interest in automotive design and cold climates, however, quickly faded as he was exposed to the Los Angeles art world and the brilliant California sun.  Graduating in '69  he began work in his home studio doing commercial illustration/design.  After moving from the Hollywood Hills, with stops in the flatlands of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, and the mountains of Julian, in 1976 he finally settled on a hillside at the southern edge of Mission Viejo.  In contrast to the ever advancing changes brought about by the computer age, he embraced even more the act of creating with his primitive tools of "colored dirt and sticks " (paint pigment and brushes). Pastel, watercolor, and oil have been used but remain secondary to acrylic, his general medium of choice due to its versatility and superior permanence.   While seeking to maintain the discipline of traditional realism, he is also concerned with the expressions and abstractions contained in each brush stroke. Whatever he is painting, the observations of light, color, perspective and shading are key to establishing a sense of reality, while never at the expense of losing a sense of the designed, painted, and subtly nuanced paint surface itself.  The tension between the two imparts a thoughtful, metaphysical quality to his work.

Erickson's versatility has allowed him to pursue parallel interests and opportunities that have arisen. Looking at his series of vintage themed paintings, many have assumed that he was a popular artist working in the 30-40's and long since deceased.  Each of these retro paintings was accurately researched and developed from various historical ephemera, and then synthesized into a scene from the past as seen through modern eyes.  Many have period style lettering designed and painted directly onto the canvas, the end result resembling old travel posters which then have been reproduced and distributed around the world.  For Erickson, as a counterpoint to a modern, often frenzied age, they provide a place to ponder, escape, and gain perspective for the present and future. 

Other people, seeing him with huge brushes painting high on a ladder or scaffold, assumed he was a muralist, such as when he was adding the finishing touches to a 120 ft. mural for California Adventure/Disneyland.  While never actively seeking mural work, a few interesting commissions have given opportunity to break out of the confines of the picture frame and to transform an entire wall into a vivid visual presence.

In a dramatic contrast of scale, other times he can be found under a straw hat painting a small study in plein air. While these paintings are enjoyed as a pleasant diversion from studio work, they form the foundation of observation for everything he paints.  Absorbing the interaction of sky with earth, the transition of light into dark, the penumbral glow that brings visual energy to a simple scene is crucial.  Speaking of his experience, Erickson says that, "Painting for me begins with a simple attraction to a particular scene, and a desire to do something in response to that attraction.  Often I paint. Sometimes I just look....caught up in the moment feeling this is important.   A painting can never actually equal the moment, but it is my record.  My resopnse."

Actively painting daily, his current works range from the old El Rancho Escondido in the pristine hilltops of Catalina Island to the modern day urban scenes of Southern California.