Painters
Leah Svendsen
Born and raised in Joseph, Oregon, Leah remembers being 9 years old when drawing became more than lines on paper. A Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in Painting from Lewis and Clark College in Portland expanded her artistic horizons.
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Leah found her way back to her home town in Eastern Oregon and now paints her horizons around the Wallowa Mountains and valleys by working with the encaustic (wax and resin) medium. She is the Owner and Operator of Element and has her encaustic studio in the shop. She can often be found painting during shop hours and teaching painting workshops after hours.
Nicole Freshley
Nicole Freshley is a landscape painter based in Joseph, Oregon, where she and her paints venture into the backcountry often. Using watercolor and gouache, she's forever attempting to distill a moment down to the handful of elements that make it magical, so she can share that sense of magic through her paintings.
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Her style combines clean lines and crisp accuracy with simplified color blocks and a feeling of fluidity. Browse the selection of her beautiful prints at Element.
Joan Gilbert
Joan Gilbert has a BA from Eastern Oregon University and a BFA in Graphic Design/Illustration from Oregon State University. She grew up in La Grande—with a year-long hiatus at age eight to Paris, France—and has lived in Enterprise for the last 20 years. Her long career in graphic design, includes over 100 regional clients, permanent exhibits for the Wallowology! Natural History Discovery Center in Joseph, and two permanent exhibits for the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture. She has volunteered teaching art in schools and camps across the region. One highlight is a 2012 five-month animation project with Enterprise sixth graders, leading to a six-minute animated short film Wallowa Lake – the REAL Story, which then turned into a children’s book. Joan has written and/or illustrated three other children’s books. In 2022 Joan produced a solo art show at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture that was the culmination of a three-year journey exploring Wallowa Lake while exploring mediums, techniques and styles. Moving among graphic design, illustration, exhibit design and now fine art, Joan is very thankful she has been able to spend her whole career in the arts.
M.C. Reardon
A fourth generation Oregonian, currently residing in the Portland area, Melissa has worked as a full time artist since 1997. She's a self-taught painter, photographer and poet.
Her acrylic works at Element reflect upon the beauty of wild nature, capturing light, shadow, color and texture of the glorious landscapes of Wallowa County.
Sculptors
Shelley Curtiss
Today Shelley’s bronze sculptures are permanently installed in private and corporate collections and public parks across the nation, including five parks in New York City.
In 1986 Shelley moved to the small town of Joseph, high in the mountains of Northeast Oregon, where the landscape is remote and inspirational. After establishing her studio, in 1989 she poured her first crucible of molten bronze at Joseph Art Castings, a fine art foundry which she co-owned, built, and operated for six years. Still a resident artist of Joseph, Oregon, Shelley has raised her children, become a teacher and advocate for the Arts, and been a community leader.
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Shelley has pursued an ongoing education in the Arts through her own independent study. Although her early college education culminated in a BS degree in Microbiology in 1973, her career in the sciences was short-lived relative to her passion for sculpture. In addition to her stylized, minimalist wildlife figures, her work also includes a series of sculptures influenced by her interest in Taoism.