Ralph Wiegmann, a first generation American-German, was born and raised in the mid-west. Many summers were spent with his family in the Rocky Mountain West. As a teenager, he studied violin, painting, drawing and ceramics at Interlochen Arts Academy.Ralph studied Graphic Design at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and then moved into Fine Art at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, where he received his BFA in Painting & Drawing. After working several years in illustration, graphic design and set building in San Francisco, Ralph moved to Missoula, Montana to pursue his passion for painting. He received his MFA in Painting from the University of Montana in 1998. Ralph's abstract paintings are distinctly influenced by the open landscape of the American West. He lives in Bozeman, Montana with his wife, artist Suzanne Truman.