
Fine art, oil, and photograph exhibit featuring three of Wallowa County’s finest artists over the past few decades.
Artist Preface
Last January when I received the invitation to participate in an art show with renowned local painters Mike Koloski and Leslie LeViner, I knew it would be a rare and special opportunity. Covid 19 wasn’t a part of our daily lexicon then, and the prospects for a creative collaboration with these two artists was just the spark of light I needed in the dark of winter. However once the pandemic turned life upsidedown for our entire planet I began to seriously question the point of having an art show when so many were suffering and dying. It seemed a fruitless endeavor, fraught with ethical and spiritual considerations. How could we go forward safely? What might that look like? After our first conference call and upon hearing the many creative ideas for the show from Leslie and Mike, the motivation to move forward became clear, even though the details of how to manifest it were still a bit sketchy. Even in our darkest moments, to engage in the creative process is a salve to the soul and it lays the foundation from which hope may find root. So take a virtual tour, bathe yourself in LeViner light and listen for the song of the river in the quiet calm of a Koloski painting. Can you hear it? I can.
-Mary Edwards
Virtual Exhibit
shopping_cart $450
The world of reflection takes many forms and those found in the timeless curves of vintage cars are some of my favorites. The past and present blend and stretch together creating a new reality. This piece won a first place award at the Wallowa Valley Festival of Art in 2007.
Mary Edwards
Buick Eight
NFS
In Appalachia, where I was born and raised to adulthood, tectonic forces through millennia heaved up a mountain chain comparable to the present day Rockies. Yet when I visit my childhood swimming hole on Ohio’s Sunfish Creek any hint of mountains is worn and buried beneath a thick layer of humus, groundcover, shrubs, and hardwood forest.
Mike Koloski
Appalachia
shopping_cart $1,600
It had been a hot, dry August when a thunderstorm came in and then turned into a gentle rain for several hours. The horses really appeared to appreciate it.
Leslie LeViner
Refreshing August Rain
shopping_cart $450
Reproductions Available
Wind, rain, hail, and snow, were all constituents of this advancing storm. This atmospheric drama played out for several hours and sent me running for the safety of my truck more than once. This composition was shot from atop Steptoe Butte, another fascinating feature of the Palouse landscape. Steptoe Butte is a quartzite island jutting out of the silty deposits of Palouse loess. The rock formation is around 400 million years old, considerably older than the relatively "youthful" deposits of the Columbia River Basalt eruptions, 7-15 million years ago.
Mary Edwards
Steptoe Storm
shopping_cart $225
There are many motivations that inspire one to press the shutter; a beautiful landscape, the elements of light and shadow on a particular object or scene, to capture a moment, a feeling, an emotion, to tell a story, and more. Documentation, a silent partner in most of these motivations, was for me, the first motivation to
click the shutter. At the age of ten, armed with the magic of a polaroid camera and my desire to document this “ancient” structure, pressing the shutter became a life long adventure.
Mary Edwards
Sand River- Death Valley
shopping_cart $1,750
This painting won the “Equine Images” publisher’s award at the American Academy of Equine Art’s annual show. The lighting inspiration came from a photo I took of my cows eating hay at sunrise on a winter morning. The images of the Native Americans were from some tiny old historical photos, and I had to use a magnifying glass to get any detail at all.
Leslie LeViner
Rendezvous at Sunrise
shopping_cart $1,750
This painting won the “Equine Images” publisher’s award at the American Academy of Equine Art’s annual show. The lighting inspiration came from a photo I took of my cows eating hay at sunrise on a winter morning. The images of the Native Americans were from some tiny old historical photos, and I had to use a magnifying glass to get any detail at all.
Leslie LeViner
At The Seashore
NFS
Reproductions Available
The Lostine River is all about transformation. It’s flowing waters cut deep through the granite that forms its bedrock. The Lostine essentially creates art through water eroding rock. The resulting beauty is so powerful that I have been compelled to paint it time after time.
Mike Koloski
Lostine River At Pole Bridge
shopping_cart $225
The world of reflection takes many forms and those found in the timeless curves of vintage cars are some of my favorites. The past and present blend and stretch together creating a new reality. This piece won a first place award at the Wallowa Valley Festival of Art in 2003.
Mary Edwards
Reflections In Time
shopping_cart $350
This quick little plein air study is a good example of how Sparky contributed to my seeing the complexity of the different sources of light. While Sparky is a white pony, he actually is a warm, golden yellow “white.” The planes that face the early morning sun take on the warm golden glow. The planes that are in shadow take on a cooler color and darker value. However, the shadow color on Sparky’s neck is reflecting the warm, lighter color on his chest and legs, therefore the shadow color is warmer and lighter in value than his cooler, darker shadows are.
Leslie LeViner
Sparky Summer Grass
NFS
Reproductions Available
Now here’s a Rock! Magnificent Mount Robson is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies. And it seems to be proud of it! Even the beautiful lush forest in the foreground fails to provide the intended counterpoint to its massive presence. Artistically I was really beating my head against a rock.
Mike Koloski
Mount Robson
NFS
This little en plein air sketch was done on a hot August evening when there was some smoke in the atmosphere. I had fed them some hay so they would hold still long enough to capture their likeness. Fortunately, something caught their attention long enough to get their attention long enough to get the value shapes and color notes on canvas before they resumed eating. And, of course, being an artist who loves color, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to push the warm glow of the setting sun.
Leslie LeViner
Sparky & Dixie Sunset Affect
shopping_cart $ 1,200
Earth is a rocky planet. But it is also a planet with water. As we have seen in other paintings, rock and water are in a constant struggle. Nowhere is it this more evident than on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. This huge rock near Brookings Oregon seems marooned and abandoned. We do not see the rest of the formation that it was once a part of. The force of the Pacific Ocean has seen to that.
Mike Koloski
Seastack- Brookings
shopping_cart $450
An ocean of sensual earthen waves, the Palouse Prairie was formed primarily during the ice ages, but its foundation lies in the layers and layers of molten lava from the Columbia River Basalt eruptions. Glacial advances and retreats, massive floods from collapsing ancient ice dams and wind, all worked to sculpt this landscape. Wind, in particular, contributed to the sensual sculpting and wave like expression of the land and played a major role in depositing the rich soil of the Palouse, known as loess.
Prior to the first stab of the plow blade into the fertile mantle of this landscape, it was home to an amazingly diverse prairie of perennial grasses and wildlife. Perennial being the operative word, today, nearly all of the Palouse Prairie is planted in agricultural crops. The native prairie is one of the most endangered ecosystems in the United States, with little more than one percent of the original prairie still in existence.
Mary Edwards
Palouse Waves
shopping_cart $350
This quick little plein air study is a good example of how Sparky contributed to my seeing the complexity of the different sources of light. While Sparky is a white pony, he actually is a warm, golden yellow “white.” The planes that face the early morning sun take on the warm golden glow. The planes that are in shadow take on a cooler color and darker value. However, the shadow color on Sparky’s neck is reflecting the warm, lighter color on his chest and legs, therefore the shadow color is warmer and lighter in value than his cooler, darker shadows are.
Leslie LeViner
Sparky Winter Evening Light
NFS
Here’s a little painting of some big mountains. Colorado once called itself “The Rocky Mountain State”. Be that as it may, Idaho has plenty of mountains too. This view of the Sawtooths on the way to Sun Valley shows some of its rugged peaks. Ahhh – so many rocks – so little time.
Mike Koloski
Sawtooth Range
shopping_cart $350
A great example of the glowing late afternoon sun and how it affects all the different “whites” of this little painting.
Leslie LeViner
Sparky & Dixie Winter Dinner
shopping_cart $75
This view, my favorite view, no matter the road ahead or what trails behind. She steadies my faultering gaite, lifts my spirit and cleans my tear stained cheeks when life deals out its worst. This view, my favorite view, eagerly looking into the future, unconcerned by the curves of life.
Mary Edwards
Objects in the Mirror I
shopping_cart $75
This view, my favorite view, no matter the road ahead or what trails behind. She steadies my faultering gaite, lifts my spirit and cleans my tear stained cheeks when life deals out its worst. This view, my favorite view, eagerly looking into the future, unconcerned by the curves of life.
Mary Edwards
Objects in the Mirror II
shopping_cart $75
This view, my favorite view, no matter the road ahead or what trails behind. She steadies my faultering gaite, lifts my spirit and cleans my tear stained cheeks when life deals out its worst. This view, my favorite view, eagerly looking into the future, unconcerned by the curves of life.
Mary Edwards
Objects in the Mirror III
shopping_cart $650
This was a “Monet Monday” painting that I painted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 in the morning with a few of my fellow plein air artists. In 2011 it was selected as the poster art for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Art.
Leslie LeViner
Spring Below Mount Joseph
shopping_cart $1,600
This is a view from the east side of Baker Valley looking at the Elkhorn Mountains in the Rock Creek area. I definitely had to use the old fence and gates in the foreground.
Leslie LeViner
Summer Across Baker Valley
shopping_cart $450
Reproductions Available
I have photographed this barn many times over the years, a familiar encounter when wandering the Zumwalt Prairie. Her posture, like a horse squared back on her haunches, steadfast in refusal; coaxing will not change her direction. I think about the time of her building; hot breathless days filled with meaty swearing when hammer struck not the nail. Slivered hands deliver the dream into reality. The contract between commitment and hope, struck with each nail. Bowing to time, the dream lists precariously now. How long before a howling Wallowa wind claims her?
Named for its location on the Zumwalt Prairie road, which used to be the old road traveler’s took from Joseph to Imnaha. It was “midway” between Joseph and Imnaha, and at one time served as a livery stable for stock and had a small inn for travelers. Sadly, not long after I took this photograph, a howling Wallowa wind claimed her.
Mary Edwards
The Midway Barn
shopping_cart $500
Fresh snow had fallen the night before and the next morning was very cold with bright sunshine. I jumped into my old Chevy truck with my painting gear and headed over to my neighbor’s pasture. He always fed his cows in the afternoon, so I knew his cows would be standing around waiting to be fed. What I didn’t know was how very cold it was. I was really excited to have such great models, bright sunlight, direct and reflective light bouncing everywhere, and stunningly beautiful ‘cast shadows’ reflecting the deep blue of the cold sky above. After getting the cows and the mountains painted, I realized how really cold I was getting, and how stiff the paint was, especially the white. I was chilled to the bone! “Oh, what we plein air painters endure to get a nifty little painting.
Leslie LeViner
Sunny & 10 Degrees
shopping_cart $550
This is just before sunrise as the July full moon is setting behind Twin Peaks. A lot of my favorite elements come together in this painting, including the patterns of hayfields, mountains, and unique lighting.
Leslie LeViner
Twin Peaks Moonset & Haystacks
shopping_cart $650
This was originally going to be a plein air painting of the old cottonwood on a grey day. However, I couldn’t resist what was going on with two mares and Sparky in the foreground. I love how Sparky’s color and character just pops!
Leslie LeViner
What About Me
shopping_cart $350
These are 900/1000 lb. bales, which make for rather imposing shapes. Because I painted this at dawn on a warm early July morning, there is a colorful glow created by the accompanying dust and haze in the atmosphere. The pinks and violets make for beautiful complements to the greens in this scene.
Leslie LeViner
Big Bales At Dawn
NFS
Reproductions Available
Earth is a rocky planet. Unlike the gas giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, Earth is solid rock. (At least when it’s not molten rock). I find it, then, no surprise that rock and rocks are common artistic elements in my work. This is one of my favorites. A gathering of rocks on a hillside bathed by the last of Winter’s light standing ready for the Spring that has always come.
Mike Koloski
Rock Art
shopping_cart $650
Of course it had to snow on our “Monet Monday” painting group, but I stood under the shed roof of the barn and painted this scene. I love the contrast of the warm golds and browns with the cool greys of the background.
Leslie LeViner
Breakfast In The Snow
NFS
This is a mid-October day when the fall colors were at their peak along Hurricane Creek. To top that off, it was lightly raining so the colors were even more intense. I even had the luxury of standing out of the rain under the shed roof of the barn. While I was busy getting the composition and color notes on the canvas along comes my favorite old whitetail “Bucky” and a couple friends. I was able to get a couple photos before they sauntered on.
Leslie LeViner
Bucky of Quail Run Ranch
NFS
This is a painting of Katie, Kodi, Sparky and Tiny coming in from the west pasture on an early June evening. The iris in full bloom, the grass a lush green, and the warm evening light made a perfect setting for this composition at our Haines ranch. The Elkhorn Mountains have gone into shadow, so they take on the famous “blue mountain” hue.
Leslie LeViner
Changing Pastures
NFS
Reproductions Available
This painting won first place in the WVFA 2009 En Plein Air event. I went out about 4 a.m. to be ready for the sunrise light to hit the “Eagle Tree”, which it did precisely on cue at 5 a.m.. As the thunderhead cloud in the distance came over the top of me, I only had a few moments to get my painting and palette in the truck before it opened up and just poured! My abandoned easel filled full of rainwater, but I was dry in the truck. Another perk of being in the truck was that I found myself painting to the rhythm of the pouring rain, which helped me paint faster to complete this painting, frame it, and drive it to the WVFA plein air event and hang it. All by 10 a.m.!
Leslie LeViner
Eagle Tree Shining
shopping_cart $375
Light and shadow on the landscape and the transformative story it reveals, then and now, are strong motivations to click the shutter. These are the landscapes that inspired me in my youth.
Mary Edwards
Lone Pine Peak- Death Valley
shopping_cart $1,125
This is a painting of one of the largest old cottonwoods on Hurricane Creek with my favorite view of Ruby Peak. I just had to try to capture the moment when the sunrise is just touching the top branches of the old tree – which is a favorite perch for bald eagles.
Leslie LeViner
Eagle Tree Winter Sunrise
shopping_cart $2,700
This was an overly large, ambitious plein air painting that I tackled over the course of a couple days on location, and finished in the studio. The evening light, the snow patterns, and the grandeur of Mount Joseph are what I was inspired to capture on this huge canvas.
Leslie LeViner
Early June Evening Mount Joseph
shopping_cart $575
We had just bought these three ewes who were in dire need of shearing, so I had to hurry to get this sketch done. I had Kodi, about 4-1/2 years old at the time, keep their attention with a bucket of grain, which she gave them a little at a time. They got sheared the next day, and a couple weeks later, they had three little lambs.
Leslie LeViner
Ewes Three
shopping_cart $350
This was a quick little plein air sketch that I did on an overcast afternoon. I used it to do a larger studio painting which sold immediately upon putting it in the gallery.
Leslie LeViner
February Calves
shopping_cart $900
Rock is about formation and transformation. In general, very powerful forces of gravity, heat, pressure, and time order and form Earth’s rock on a planetary scale. Additional forces ranging from titanic to microscopic constantly transform that rock. Even life, which is no more than a thin scum on the surface of Earth, can cause transformation. See how it works to fracture and organically modify this substantial outcropping of volcanic basalt in the Imnaha Canyon.
Mike Koloski
Rock Of Ages
shopping_cart $450
Equal forces of light and dark carve the ridges to reveal their form.
Mary Edwards
Imnaha
NFS
The models are Donna, Beau, Sparky, Junior and Dixie and the old cottonwood covered in frost. A cold winter morning and good hay makes it easy to capture the scene, as the horses are very still. My original intention was to paint a foggy, tonal composition, but as I was getting the composition on the canvas, to my surprise, the fog burned off and out came the sun. Beautiful! And warmer, too.
Leslie LeViner
Frosty Morning Breakfast
shopping_cart $375
The Hurricane, home to calamitous movements of land, snow, fire and wind; the mischief of this canyon is shrouded in the soft advance of a coming storm. The ferocity of wind in this valley, along with age, continues to claim icons of the past.
Mary Edwards
The Hurricane
NFS
As I said; I am compelled to paint it time after time.
Mike Koloski
Lostine River Vignette #3
NFS
It had been a hot, dry August when a thunderstorm came in and then turned into a gentle rain for several hours. The horses really appeared to appreciate it.
Leslie LeViner
Gentle Snow
NFS
Reproductions Available
We had about a week of winter fog which built up a lot of hoarfrost on everything. This is a painting of a magical winter scene just after sunrise, with the sun just touching the tops of the foreground trees as well as the background mountains. This is a good example of how many different colors white hoarfrost and snow can be, depending on whether lit by warm sunlight or in cool shadows.
Leslie LeViner
Hoarfrost Morning
NFS
There are many motivations that inspire one to press the shutter; a beautiful landscape, the elements of light and shadow on a particular object or scene, to capture a moment, a feeling, an emotion, to tell a story, and more. Documentation, a silent partner in most of these motivations, was for me, the first motivation to
click the shutter. At the age of ten, armed with the magic of a polaroid camera and my desire to document this “ancient” structure, pressing the shutter became a life long adventure.
Mary Edwards
Cashier Mill- Death Valley
shopping_cart $850
This painting won the “Over 65 year-old” category in the Feb. 2017 Plein Air Magazine’s “Plein Air Salon Show.” With the summer sunrise glow, it’s not hard to see how Ruby Peak got its name.
Leslie LeViner
Morning Light- Ruby Peak