Artists In Action’s Art Gallery Announces:
July First Friday Reception and July Featured Artists
Opening Night Reception
Friday, July 5, 2024 | 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Elsinore Framing and Fine Art Gallery | 444 Ferry St SE, Salem
During the month of July, the Artists in Action Art Gallery will present a special feature of the work of Jean Lea and Susan Grace Branch.
Jean Lea: “ I have lived in Oregon my entire life. I currently live on the edge of a wetland reserve that my husband and I own and he manages. I attended Oregon College of Education {now WOU) majoring in art. My art is influenced by the varied environment in which I live. The proximity to the ocean, wetlands, farmlands, and mountains are often the inspiration and stepping off point for my work. I primarily paint with acrylic, watercolor, and gouache to create abstract and semi-abstract interpretations of nature and people. I also enjoy printmaking to produce monotypes,, etchings, and relief prints.
I have been an active member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon since 1993 and a member of the Salem Art Association, Artist in Action, Keizer Art Association, Oregon Coast Council for the Arts (OCCA), Northwest Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, and International Society of Experimental Artists. I have shown in multiple exhibitions and have artwork in the Art in Agriculture permanent collection at Oregon State University and the Salem Public Library Foundation’s Salem Reads art collection.”
Susan Grace Branch: received a BA in Art Education, a B.A in Three Dimensional Design, an M.A in Jewelry and Metalsmithing, and an M.F.A in Multi Media. A native-born Oregonian, Susan’s love of the environment of the Pacific Northwest has called her back to her home state and McMinnville, Oregon where she has established studios for her wall art and jewelry (wearable art.) The influence of her return is deeply evident in her creative work. Susan’s artistic style is eclectic, the consequence of a life-long fascination with possibility thinking, looking for the patterns that connect thoughts, ideas and philosophies inside of disciplines and between disciplines. Susan’s interests include science, arts, archeology, anthropology, sociology, mythology and our interrelationship with the many and varied forms of our world.
“It is my desire to bring elemental ideas from nature and from dreamscapes and transform them into creative objects that engage the observer and help them see the world around them in a deeper more meaningful way.” Susan has work in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, The Western Australian Art Gallery, Art Gallery of WA, Perth, Western Australia, W.A.I.T, Bentley, Western Australia, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, Private Collections U.K. Germany, Australia, and USA. Her work is most recently represented in Galleries, Markets and Fairs in Australia and USA including, Westminster Art Festival, 2023 Salem, Oregon, Metal Arts Gift Show 2023, McMinnville, The Gallery at Ten Oaks, McMinnville, Oregon, Johne Stromme and Friends Gallery, McMinnville, Oregon, Tubac Center of the Arts Member’s’ Open 2018 & 2019, Tubac Center of the Arts Gallery Shop 2018 to present.
An Opening Night Reception coincides with Salem’s First Friday Art Walk event on July 5th between 5:00-8:00 p.m. The show runs through July 31st. The Artists in Action Gallery shares a space with the Elsinore Framing and Fine Art Gallery at 444 Ferry St. SE. To see more art and read about this new gallery, visit AiAArtGallery.org.
Dave in Salem 