FESTIVAL ART SHOW & SALE
**WITH THE CANCELATION OF OUR EVENT, THE ART SHOW & SALE WILL NOT PROCEED AS PLANNED. However, Spark Art Studios in Downtown Burns will be hosting a mini-show April 10-13 from 10am to 4pm each day, and there will be a pop-up market at Geno’s Youth Center from 10am to 2pm on April 12. Come out and support our local vendors! Can’t make it in person? Click on our vendor logos below and shop their online sales!
The Art Show and Sale offers high-quality work from local and regional artists. Located in the Geno’s Youth Center gymnasium throughout the weekend, festival participants have a wonderful opportunity to view and purchase original pieces of art, including wildlife paintings, photographs, sculpture, jewelry, woodworks and much more.
Friday, April 11: 12 to 6 p.m. | Saturday, April 12: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Sunday, April 13: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Location: Geno’s Youth Center – 135 E Washington St, Burns, OR 97720
ROBBINS ART STUDIO
Connie Robbins has been an artist for over 30 years and has her Masters in Teaching. She was born and raised in Burns, Oregon. She credits her artistic influences to her mother and paternal grandmother who took the time to show her and her twin sister the importance of creating and showing art, respectively. Over the years, Robbins has practiced all gambits of art including graphic design, fine arts including classical drawing, sculpture, collage, airbrush, oils, acrylic and painting. Her multi-faceted talents have won awards for commissioned airbrushed cars to receiving a recent fine arts grant through Oregon Community Foundation for an installation in the future community arts center. Currently, her medium of choice is Batik Wax and Watercolor.
CARRIE WHITNEY
Carrie was born and raised in Burns, Oregon and has primarily been a figurative oil painter. Currently, she lives on Whidbey Island raising her two children, is a professional artist, teaching art and spending time in the studio. Recently she started painting animals, giving them a chance to shine and be noticed in a new, beautiful and fun way. The last two years birds have held a big part of her focus. Birds seem to operate on a global worldview, from migrating to how they communicate in and with the rest of nature. She admires that. “Animals are historic teachers, too. I’m pulling for them like I am people. That we all have a place in the order of things like the killdeer or kiwi. That we can notice our differences and embrace them, as what makes us all more beautiful and playful. And that our differences make us better as a whole.`
MALHEUR FIELD STATION
Malheur Field Station is an environmental education and research center in the northern Great Basin region in Southeastern Oregon, a diverse setting of marshlands, desert basins, alkali playas, upland desert scrub steppe, volcanic and glacial landforms and fault block mountains, 32 miles south of Burns on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. It provides a rich outdoor classroom for the biologist, geologist, archaeologist, astronomer, artist, or environmental science student. operated by the Great Basin Society, a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1985.
CLIFF SCHARF JEWELRY
We work with sterling silver and karat gold to create fine jewelry pieces. We do hand fabrication and lost wax casting set with precious and semi precious gems. There are more than 60 years experience in Scharf family jewelers. We work in everything from silver and turquois to gold and diamonds and we enjoy creating custom pieces for our customers. We pride ourselves in our selection of gems to work with.
DUNCAN NEILSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Duncan Neilson has had a lifelong interest in birds and began trying to photograph them while still in grade school. That process resulted in a deeper study of photography, expanding to landscape and flower subject matter as well as birds, much of it under the mentorship of Leonard Conkling (who with his father Charles produced the book “Steens Mountain”) who introduced him to the wonders of Oregon High Desert photography. His primary products are high quality exhibition prints, ranging from handmade and signed photo note cards to large 40 x 60-inch wall display prints. He has worked through the evolution of photography from large format view camera film work to modern digital techniques. His hope is that his work will cause people to ponder the beauty of the natural world and more deeply recognize our deep connection to that beauty.
FRIENDS OF MALHEUR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE CRANE’S NEST NATURE CENTER & STORE
The Crane’s Nest Nature Center & Store is in the historic residence east of the museum at Refuge Headquarters. It is our goal that the Nature Center be a point of contact for Friend’s members and visitors to the Refuge, providing up-to-date wildlife sightings and current Refuge visitor information as well as a site for environmental education and wildlife presentations. The Nature Store sales provide an important source of income which in turn supports our annual operations including Friends programs and stewardship projects.
NANCIE MILLER JEWELRY
From the artist: I’ve been doing fused glass window hangers, jewelry and small tableware for around 30 years. My pieces are generally whimsical, focusing on a nature theme, with lots of birds and wildflowers!
CASSANDRA LEE STUDIOS
Cassandra Lee learned to use needles and thread at a young age. She, with her sisters, worked alongside her mother and grandmother embroidering pillowcases and quilts. Throughout her life she has been distracted by clay, wood and other three-dimensional mediums, only to find her way back to her love of fiber. Today, she transforms post-consumer products and end-of-bolt discontinued fabrics into unique pillows featuring flora and fauna that have distinct personalities. She pays close attention to color and texture, and uses a combination of techniques including raw-edge appliqué and machine- and hand-embroidery to add depth and character to her unique designs.
EMILY O’CONNOR ART & MAZARINE ART
LINDA WHITING
Linda Whiting owner of Linda’s Art Studio: Whiting has been working at her craft for over 40 years. She comes from an artistic family that also loves nature and wildlife. Throughout her career she has worked in several mediums including oils, acrylics, fabric, bead embroidery, bead weaving, paper, and wire. Creating new and different designs is her passion using a variety of mediums and techniques. 2023 has been an especially trying year not only for Whiting but the world. As Whiting works on her projects her mind is also on the lives of other people that have been affected by world events. She feels the world is in need of more Love and understanding. She hopes that her work reflects the Love that she wants to share and will bring a little feeling of peace to whomever receives it.
SIMPLY NATURE – FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY
Kyle Cline, John Day photographer, wanders the backcountry from the John Day River Valley through the Aldrich, Strawberry, and Steens mountains deep into the Owyhee canyonlands. His art reflects the spirit of this beautiful place we call home. Kyle makes large, custom rustic framed landscape and wildlife prints that can be previewed at SimplyNatruePhotos.com
FIRECOLOR DESIGNS
It took a pandemic to create the need, the desire for Connie to explore using pyrography and watercolor on live-edge wood as a way to connect with family and the natural world. Her process is not complicated. Her canvas is live-edge wood, an interesting plate or branch. There is a story there waiting to be told.
WOOD CREATIONS BY RICK KNOX
My name is Rick Knox. I have lived in Harney County for 13 years with my wife and two young daughters. My family and I enjoy everything Harney County has to offer and we like to get out and be involved in our community. Wood working has been a passion that I have enjoyed since high school. I like seeing a project through from start to finish and always enjoy seeing the final product. As my family gets a little older it has given me more time to get back into the shop and start building again. I create a variety of rustic creations from small things like coasters, trivets, and bird feeders to larger items such as planter boxes, trellis’s, and picture frames. I recently started my small business so that I can share my creations with the community and others.
TR RUSSELL PHOTOGRAPHY
I bought my first camera from an ad in the newspaper when I was just a teenager. That night, I took it out to follow a lone cloud drifting slowly across a clear evening sky. That singular fascination evolved into a lifelong passion for the visual medium and a profound connection with the natural world. This journey, which began in my youth, culminated in a years-long nomadic life. I now live in Oregon and wander the Pacific Northwest in search of interesting and unique landscapes, wildlife and plant life. My minimalist approach embraces the idea that less is more. By distilling natural beauty into its simplest forms, I am able to strip away the distractions and visual clutter – an approach that reflects my own mindfulness practice. Any by emphasizing negative space and delicate details, my work invites viewers to pause and look closely at the quiet, simple beauty that often goes unnoticed in the hustle of modern life. This is my calling, my passion, and my homage to the beauty and bounty of nature.
DAVE BARTHOLET
Dave Bartholet, a self-taught artist, showed up on the planet in 1949. Having spent his early childhood in Wyoming his love for wildlife was forged from the get-go. In 1971 he started his journey as a professional artist selling his original watercolors through galleries. In the early 80’s he ventured into “show business” doing juried art shows through out the west. He still travels to 30 shows each year. His loose style of watercolors has proven to be very popular to an estimated 100,000 households that collect his work of over 400 limited edition prints. He has illustrated many magazines and book covers as well as being commissioned to do the mural for the National Wildlife Refuge 100 year recognition, a 30×50 foot effort. Dave believes he was born to paint and credits God for his natural ability. He often says he paints not because he can, but because he must. It is a gift!
MARYLOU FINCH WILHELM
From the artist: I have been painting for over sixty-five years, starting in the third grade in beautiful Tillamook, Oregon. I had a wonderful mother that encouraged me. Painting has always been a priority for me, and I constantly work on honing my skills. I have studied with various artists and am well traveled! My husband was in the Navy, so we bounced between different locations in California and Oregon. I spent many winters in Mexico, painting on oversized t-shirts for tourists, cactus, landscapes and seascapes. I painted peoples homes and captured the beauty of the stark contrasts of light and shadow created by the intense light there. I paint whatever I see, wherever I go!
PRAIRIE SKULLPTURE- URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART
From the artist, Pam Sharp: I love animals. As an artist, I try to capture each animal’s unique attitude. As a colorist, I have fallen in love with the avian world, which is the majority of my work. However, as a zoologist, I paint all sorts of animals. In 2024, I added scratch boarding to watercolor paintings. This method provided the detail I sought in my watercolor paintings. Each rendering starts by capturing the posture and soul of each animal. Each painting falls into its own rhythm. I do not focus on the methods used but on what will convey the emotion of the subject matter. The vibrant colors of the paintings first draw patrons in, and, hopefully, the emotion of each piece brings a long-forgotten memory to the viewer.
BIRD ALLIANCE OF OREGON NATURE STORE
The Bird Alliance of Oregon Nature Store sells a wide variety of binoculars, spotting scopes, tripods, and a variety of optics accessories. Ask our expert staff all of your optics questions, and we will help you find the perfect pair suited to your needs. With a huge selection of size and price, there is sure to be something for all of your birding and outdoor adventures. Purchases from the Nature Store help support bird and habitat conservation and education across the state!
LUPINE LAGOMORPH
BURNT RENDERINGS
Michele O’Malley is a self taught Gourd Artist and Wood Carver. She uses pyrography to burn wildlife images onto gourds then uses ink dyes to add color and bring the animals to life. She also uses gourds in her unique interpretation of Dreamcatchers. Her other talent lies in carving faces into cottonwood bark and driftwood. She sees faces in the wood. The art is to make you see them too. Follow Burnt Renderings on Facebook and Burntrenderings.com.
SHANE SCHAEFFER – STAINLESS STEEL FABRICATION
From the artist: I work with stainless steel sheet metal 16 gauge, and use a large treadle hammer with many different dies and shapes. I take the profile of a head, draw it out, cut it out, trace it out on the stainless steel sheet and then cut it out. It’s similar to sewing except for the large treadle hammer I stomp on to create the shape needed for the three-dimensional anatomy of whatever I’m making.
BEKAH ZEIMETZ – WILDLIFE & ANIMAL ARTIST
Bekah Zeimetz is an award-winning, self-taught wildlife painter based in Eugene, Oregon. She creates acrylic paintings inspired by countless hours exploring the enchanting beauty of the American West. Each precise brush mark is combined with thousands of others, layer upon layer, to bring flora and fauna to life using vivid color. Her art serves as a daily reminder that magic still exists, all around and in each of us.
CRISSY MARTIN – CERAMICIST
REO HARDWOODS
End grain cutting boards, rolling pins, lazy susans, napkin holders, and more!
TWO BARBS + FRONTIER ART
