​Painting my Way through Life

I have been painting professionally for 30+/- years in the Columbia Gorge area.  I express my passion for the beauty of my environment through watercolor.  In my life prior to watercolor, I worked almost two decades in a law office and owned and then operated an organic pear and apple orchard, which I believe were both instrumental in giving me the courage to develop an independent path creating art.  I live in a rural area of South Central Washington State, just across the border from Oregon, which bars me from opportunities like the Oregon Watercolor Society or the Portland Art Museum's Gallery Store, and four hours of driving bar me from the same opportunities in my own state.   

Early in life some of my best memories are based on creativity and recognition for the same.  At some point I came to the conclusion that if I didn't have time to paint, I could always work on interpreting what caught my attention and gave me joy: Why does the light on those trees, that water, that sky, through that window on the edge of the plant, on that face, make me so happy?  How could I interpret that to others to make them feel what I feel?  

I was over 40 years old when I got the opportunity to take some classes in the Portland area from Tom Lynch, Ron Ranson and Kenn Backhaus, but I am considered self-taught.  

My work is also available through bonniewhite.net., bonniewhitewatercolor.com, and a limited number venues in the Columbia Gorge area, including (usually, because they are all juried) The Hood River Harvest Festival, Hood River, OR; Festival of the Arts in Gresham, Oregon; Vancouver - USA Arts & Music Festival, Vancouver, WA; and Portland Bird Alliance's Wild Arts Festival, now held at the Wingspan Center in Hillsboro, OR, small gift items are always available at the Vista House, along the Columbia River Scenic Highway.

I now paint from my studio which gives me uninterrupted time to experiment with the beauty of the Columbia Gorge.  When I'm not painting I'm printing, matting and framing for online sales and getting ready for the next show.  I am also an avid vegetable gardner and am slave to one very spoiled border collie, 20-150 wild turkeys who have grown to trust me and greet me pretty regularly, and a pair of ravens who have shared habitat for the past 20 or so years, and many other birds and mammals who share the space with my husband, my precious dog Sky, and myself.