About the Artist:
Shandel Gamer can't remember a time when
she wasn't drawing or painting. Many of her best memories include after-school
arts and crafts at the local recreation department. Shandel's serious interest in art began in high
school. There, she began to develop her own style of pastel painting. For
the next twenty-five years, Shandel concentrated on developing this style
through her portraiture.
After sustaining a serious hand and wrist
injury, Shandel was forced to stop painting for several years. When she
was able to return, she discovered that she could no longer paint as she had
prior to the injury. Having to learn to paint again became
the catalyst for Shandel’s transformation into a wildlife
artist. Shandel's wildlife paintings
combine her skill as a portraitist with her love of wildlife. Although she continues to paint portraits,
wildlife paintings now account for the majority of her art. In 2013, Shandel began a series of mixed media
pieces which combine non-traditional colors with traditional wildlife images. Excited by these new paintings, Shandel is
enjoying creating works which are outside the box. Shandel’s paintings and prints are in
collections in both the United States and Canada.
Media: Pastel and Mixed
Media
Organizations:
Northwest Pastel
Society, Pacific Southwest Wildlife Arts, Inc., SageBrushers Art Society, Wildlife Art Net-link
Representation: Circle of Friends Art and Academy, Bend,
Oregon
Recent
Exhibitions:
- Redmond Branch
Library Art Exhibitions, 2011 - 2014
- “Echoes of the
Past” Juried Show, Juried Exhibition, Redmond, 2013-2014
- “Creatures Great and Small” A Solo Exhibition,
Redmond, 2013
- “SageBrushers Art
Society” Juried Member Show, Bend, 2013
- “For the Love of Central Oregon” A Juried
Exhibition, 2013
- “The Power of Red,” Juried Show, Juried
Exhibition, Redmond, 2013
Publications: Incite 2: Color Passions: The Best of Mixed Media!
Forthcoming from North
Light Books, September 2014
Education: Bachelor of Arts, San
Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Master
of Arts, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
Artist
Statement:
As a portrait and wildlife artist, I have been given the rare
opportunity to look closely at the essence of the human and animal
worlds. My paintings are an attempt to capture a moment in the life of my
subject whether it is a person, an animal or a bird. One can capture this
moment when looking closely. This explains why my wildlife paintings are
really portraits.
