Rhonda Shelford Jansen was born and raised in Alaska and is of Unangax and Sugpiaq descent. She is an original shareholder of the Aleut Corporation, a descendant shareholder of CIRI, and enrolled in the Ninilchik Native Association tribe. Rhonda is listed in the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board.
She has been painting and drawing since she was a child and first studied under pioneer Alaskan artist Toby Tyler and her Native Grandmother, Lydia Resoff Shelford.
She also studied art in college while majoring in business.She has been in and around the fishing industry her entire life while living in Homer,
Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, and the Pacific Northwest. She comes from four generations of Alaskan fishermen and her husband and youngest son continue that tradition.
Painting and photographing nautical scenes and Native culture is a perfect fit and comprises most of Rhonda's work. She loves honoring her native heritage by painting scenes that focus on the beauty, resiliency, and ingenuity of all Alaska Native cultures.