When Irwin and Molly Kett built their American home, they wanted to make sure the German heritage they left behind was part of it. Splitting their time between their native Germany and Hailey, The Ketts have imported almost all their décor from Germany, everything from doors to fixtures, from cabinets to an extremely efficient wood burning stove.
They have recreated their Black Forest home in the Wood River Valley, but wanted to add one more element of familiar German design to their abode. They invited their friend and neighbor from Germany, Volker Betzler, to Sun Valley to have him paint.
Betzler is a world-renowned Trompe l'oeil artist. Trompe l'oeil is French for "trick the eye" and is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects really exist.
"I knew about his work and that he was a very talented painter," said Irwin. "His grandfather was an artist, and they make Trompe l'oeil look very easy."
Betzler is a very fast painter and usually works from photographs. Irwin wanted him to paint a window on the side of his house with native plants and birds of the area. "Every day I walk the neighbor's dog, Chili, in the canyon and wanted him to be in it," Irwin said.
The Ketts took Betzler to Yellowstone National Park and various other places in the region, and those visits inspired him to paint a nature scene with a waterfall in the Kett's garage. Betzler said his clients range from wealthy Germans who move to Majorca, Spain, to celebrities such as British filmmaker Sir Peter Ustinov.
Betzler has traveled the world painting Trompe l'oeil in Japan and Switzerland. However, he said he does most of his work in Austria. He also works in gold leaf painting—another rare and unusual form of painting.
Trompe l?oeil painter Volker Betzler from Germany holds his subject, Chili, next to his painting on the outside of Irwin and Molly Kett?s Hailey home.
