Artists

David Andersen was born in Sacramento, CA. He received his undergraduate degree in ceramics from the University of California, Davis, CA., and an MFA from the University of Idaho, Moscow, ID. His art was always socially charged - a stream of consciousness narrative where he told a story by combining loosely related ideas, components and language. His pieces are both familiar/ambiguous, humorous/serious. His intent was to create work that moved viewers to question, ponder and sometimes chuckle. David passed away in Salem, OR, in 2017.

Melanie Weston was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. She received a BFA from Cornish College, Seattle, WA and a MFA from the University of Idaho, Moscow, ID. She worked at The Hallie Ford Museum of Art in Salem, Oregon for 12 years before opening the gallery Salem on the Edge. Weston’s mixed media work is about story telling with imagery and words. One cannot exist without the other. She has always worked in an intuitive manner putting her emotions on paper.

Paul Meuse is a self-taught artist based in Salem, OR. His paintings utilize everyday materials in combination with color and line to create work that explores the human experience. He is particularly interested in finding unique ways to explore and process chaos, mystery, and emotion through his paintings. As an abstract painter, he often works multidimensionally on uneven surfaces as a means of challenging his own perspectives on art, nature, and humanity.

Aron Michael Johnston is an oil painter working in the traditional style of realism. When creating an oil painting Aron’s ultimate goal is to reveal the beauty in his chosen subject, be it a seemingly mundane still life, a fiery sunset, or the visage of a portrait subject. With an eye for detail and a dedication to fine craftsmanship Aron creates memorable pieces that speak to the beauty of the everyday as well as the challenges facing contemporary society. 

Michael Orwick was born in Astoria, Oregon. He received a BFA in illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR in 2000. He cannot separate his art from his love of the Pacific Northwest. The coast, mountains, and meadows, each infused with mysterious light and atmosphere, weave narratives into their settings. “As a painter, the effects of light and atmosphere are what I remember about a location and what inspires me most. Light transforms the ordinary or even beautiful into the exceptional. My quest is to capture these fleeting moments and help people see things again through new eyes.”

Daemion Lee grew up in a small town on the southern Oregon coast, where he developed an early appreciation for landscapes. Long interested in drawing, he found renewed inspiration on a sketching trip through the spare landscapes of the Southwest. A watercolor course he took in 2015 introduced him to landscape watercolor painting, which he views as both close observation of the natural world and an expression of inner feelings. He particularly enjoys the spontaneity and simplicity of the watercolor medium. His paintings explore his own movements through the local landscape as well as his place in the universe. 

 Margaret Plumb grew up in Mt. Angel, Oregon and currently resides near Eugene. She studied art at Lane Community College and Chemeketa College and was heavily influenced by the French Impressionists, primarily Pissarro and Cezanne, Post-impressionism, Fauvism, and the incredible work of the early 20th century California Impressionist Movement. Margaret is known for her vivid, saturated palette and her bold and expressive brushwork. Working both en plein air and in the studio, she focuses on impressionistic representation of the forms, colors, and shapes she sees in nature. Margaret has painted almost exclusively in acrylics for the last few years "because they're a versatile medium, with the capabilities of both watercolor and oil, and their quick-drying abilities accommodate my klutzy tendencies." 

 Zachary McRae was born in Plant City, Florida. He is self-taught and uses intuitive, automatic processes to generate large-scale abstract oil and acrylic paintings. Compelled to make art from an early age, it wasn’t until after suffering through a minor traumatic brain injury in 2014 that he began to take his creative passion more seriously. “I consider the act of painting sacred, and give my work ample time to develop, layering and scrutinizing each aspect as it arises. My paintings are containers for the experiences that I have in the studio. They represent the fused workings of my mind and body during the weeks, months and years that I spend producing them.” 

Dayna Collins is an energetic and enthusiastic abstract painter. She loves experimenting with texture, layers, and color, likening her paintings to going on an archaeological dig. Dayna is also a mixed media artist and an avid collector/junker, energized by hunting for materials to use in her found object assemblage art or in her Salvage Collages. She hyperventilates when she discovers a rusty piece of metal or a tattered, disintegrating book. Dayna uses these tired, worn out objects to create vignettes that tell a new story. 

Shoki Tanabe was born in Tokyo and, at four months old, was brought to Salem by his parents, and in Salem he grew and learned and ran in the rain and the sun. He received his undergraduate degree in painting and writing from Willamette University in 2008. His interest in art developed at a young age when he began flipping through various art books of his mother’s, who majored in Art History at the same university. His work tends towards the allegorical in content, while experimenting with color, layering, and texture to convey form.

   Stephen Hinton, a Portland-based artist, creates bold fantasies combining humor with dark twists. Using acrylic paint, Stephen combines his love of pop culture, anime and comic books to bring to life imaginative worlds of cartoon-faced demons. The use of demonic imagery is tongue in cheek, used as a vessel for story telling, but in no way is indicative of a belief in the occult. He believes red is the most provocative color, and so applies it predominantly through out his work to draw the viewer in for a more intimate look.

 Robin is a New Zealander now living in Portland. She is a self taught abstract artist working in a variety of mediums. Her work is a reflection of everyday experiences including the fact that she is an immigrant. “Being an immigrant means, no matter which home you are in, you are slightly apart, always observing, and I think my art reflects that”.

Monte was born and raised in Salem. She received her B.S. at Western Oregon State University, Monmouth, Oregon and her M.F.A. at Washington State University, Pullman, WA. “My painting represents a paradox in light and shadow, fire and water, cold and hot, life and death. I am concerned with energies that illuminate and emanate in the natural world. My imagery is a fusion of observation and imagination. The light in the paintings represents energy that emanates out from the center of the canvas. Light and energy are the ground in my painting. 

 Seth is a painter, actor, writer and director. Originally from California, he has made Salem his home and is truly immersed in local arts! When you view his large-scale abstract paintings they may seem simplistic, but you fall into the colors and find imagery that you may not have seen at first glance. “The last few years have been a kaleidoscope of feelings, stories, emotions, victories and defeats. I wanted to explore the tension between these with colors and shapes on canvas. I’ve tried to capture the depth of these stories and tensions with layering and scraping of paint and lines that we want to be straight and solid, but are not. Sometimes we find that the foundation is cracked.”

Sarah was born and raised in Maryland and Pennsylvania. She has been a resident of Eugene, Oregon, for over 20 years. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a BA in Fine Art. Sarah is primarily an oil painter working in a highly detailed, classical realist style, with a focus on still life painting. The interaction and relationship between humankind and the natural world is an ongoing theme in her works and she often chooses non-traditional, curious, and unexpected subjects for her paintings.

Heather moved to Eugene, Oregon, six years ago from Washington, DC. She is a contemporary painter, and painting is a expressive and cathartic process for her. “I paint from memory, starting with no preconceived notion of what the work will become. I listen to my intuition and let the surfaces emerge. My thoughts are often of the patinas that arise with age, the gradual change in the color and texture and structure of all things over time. The Oregon landscapes, seascapes, and cloudscapes have been an immense inspiration.”

 Patrice Cameron was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. A self-taught artist, Patrice worked in watercolor for years, but in 2021 she wanted a new artistic challenge and began painting with acrylics on canvas. She is a painter of rivers, “the higher the elevation, the more exciting the river flows. I enjoy strong rocky compositions combined with soft, swirling, watery shapes. This inspires me to study and capture the moment, then paint its essence.” 

 Ron Conrad is a self-taught sculptor and painter living in Salem, Oregon. He creates kinetic sculptures that contemplate the relationships between people, movement, and time, and his paintings explore the connections and disconnections people have with themselves and their dreams. Ron says of his creative process: “I try to visualize how people view the world and themselves from their unique perspective with a sense of irony and humor. I am guided by my conscious thoughts and allow myself to be influenced by subconscious thoughts. I only consider a work finished when it speaks to me and brings me pleasure.”

 Lisa Laser was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but had lived in New Jersey, Idaho, Washington, Hawaii, and Oregon by the time she turned 17. Her many adventures led to an appreciation of proper bagels, soft pretzels, trees, the ocean, and packing light. Lisa paints with both oil and acrylic and also works with old magazines, books, and sewing patterns. She often incorporates snippets of text, enjoying taking words out of context. Lisa’s work is part planning and part intuition. Her pieces have multiple layers, using sandpaper and scraping tools to reveal bits of what’s below. She is inspired by our natural world as well as popular culture, politics, and our emotional messiness. Whether she is painting crows, hummingbirds, or humans, Lisa’s work reflects her love of color, light, and humor. 

    Jennifer Foran was born and raised in Pennsylvania. She spontaneously moved to Portland, Oregon in 1999. Inspired by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, she began to create landscapes on wood that combined her drawing and painting experience with her love of trees. Her process begins by observing the patterns found in the wood grain. Determining which parts of the grain, often looked at as threads or paths, will be exposed and how they will be woven into the landscape as water, sky, mountains or wind. Their presence represents change. The trees play an important role in the piece. Almost like actors on a stage they are carefully situated in the landscape as an anchor; constant. She combines colored layers of stain and acrylic with wood burned details that wrap around the sides of the painting to reflect a cycle or continuum. The intention of the final piece is to not only capture a memory or evoke a feeling, but to create comfort with what is familiar and curiosity with the unknown. When people see her art she wants them to discover the cycles within nature; the soft-spoken reminder that everything is connected; a balance of give and take.

Aimee O’Will was born in Hillsboro, OR, and never imagined being anything other than an artist. From her early days of crayon on drywall into her early adulthood of studying Graphic Arts at Portland State University and now as a professional designer, she is constantly driven to develop her artistic skill. Aimee’s work is a blend of formal graphic design training and a lifetime of experimentation with materials, mediums and subject matter. She enjoys incorporating references to mythology and symbolism within her work and finds tremendous joy in compelling people to take another look. 

 Chelsea Beaudrie “I have spent most of my life with the feeling of ‘holding back’-staying confined within the lines, worrying about making the right ‘mark’ in the world and being a “caregiver” to those surrounding me. My discovery of painting in the summer of 2020 released those preconceived notions and defining lines. My work is unintentional in design and content. Symbols, iconography, and motifs may unintentionally arise though they are dependent on what is weighing on my mind, heart and is transcribed through the medium. The process, how my work transpires, is strongly related to my cultural, personal background, identity, and day-to-day experiences both locally and globally. It is my unrelenting release, challenging the social norms, and use of layers, texture, and vivid colors is my unapologetic voice. Each painting speaks an untold story, providing the viewer with varying dimensions for individual interpretation.” 

T.M.A. is a Salem based photographer.

 Leonard was born in Philadelphia, PA, and grew up in Delaware and Washington, D.C. He is a citizen of the Lenape Tribe of New Jersey and the Nanticoke Tribe of Delaware, and currently lives on the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indian Reservation. He came from a long line of artists and craftsmen, marshalling inspiration from his ancestors and tribe. Self-taught, he has always been involved in creative endeavors, celebrating his culture through traditional crafts and dance. “I like using older images to tell a new story of putting perspective on our history. As a newer artist, I like exploring all kinds of methods and mediums. Each new style I incorporate helps me express myself in a new way. I’m never scared to try new things and see where my mind takes me.”