Jack Portland was born San Luis Obispo, California in 1946. He studied at the University of California at Santa Barbara and graduated from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 1971. He has become well known in the Northwest, both as an artist and teacher. His work combines elements of surrealism, patterns, and expressionism, exploring images ranging from landscape to still life with an abstract vocabulary. His work has been included in exhibitions at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.; the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Seattle Art Museum and the Tacoma Art Museums, Washington; and the Portland Art Museum, Oregon.