Artist Bio
Dora M. Gourley, a lifetime resident of Oregon, has been drawing and painting since age five. Born and raised on a small farm in eastern Oregon, many of her paintings reflect her love of the outdoors and most of them tell a story.
After spending a few years working on a newspaper
Gourley chose the medical field and worked for twenty years as a medical assistant. After her bosses retirement, she worked in Pharmaceutical Research for three years. In 1991, she retired to work full time as an artist.
An Avid traveler, Gourley chooses her subjects from anywhere there is interesting scenery. Old homes in Georgia, Civil War battlefields, Anasasi Ruins in the Four Corners Region of the Southwest, Napa Valley, California, the vast cattle country in eastern Oregon and the beautiful Oregon coast.
Largely self taught, the artist has certificates (1972-74) from Washington School of Art with Instructors, Winifred Graney, Lise Silchenstedt, Dorothea Barth, Jean Faber, Bruce Barnard, Anne Torre, James Jotka and Jane Dolph. She studied with Mary Farrell of The Artist’s Studio Workshops in 1994. She is a member of The Beaverton Arts Commission, Tigard Art Club and Transparent Watercolor Society.
Gourley has many paintings in private collections, including Florida, Alaska, Kentucky, New Jersey, Idaho, Texas and Washington. Her watercolors grace many homes in Oregon. A mural artist, she has murals in Florida and Oregon. Along with paintings, her floor cloths and wall hangings are marketed on her web site. Local Art shows include The Beaverton Art Gallery, Beaverton City Hall, The Artisan Salon, Tigard Post Office, Farmington Square Assisted Living Center, Normandy Woods Living, Willamette Falls Hospital, HomeStreet Bank, Sherwood Library and Tualatin Library to name a few. Her painting "Women in Agriculture" hung in the Wiseman Gallery, Rogue Valley Community College, Grants Pass Oregon, 1998 and won first prize for Best Use of Medium in the HomeStreet Bank show in 2004. "The Readers" a whimsical animal watercolor with children and reading in mind hangs in the Cove Library, Cove, Oregon.
She recently illustrated the book "Ox Teams & Covered Wagons" complete with journals and information on the Warfield Family and their struggle crossing the plains from Iowa to Oregon in 1870. Available from the Artist or at Betty’s Books in Baker City.
The artist’s work can be seen on her web page at http://hometown.aol.com/boes1949/page1.html.
www.Artwanted.com type in Dora Gourley...And reached by email at BOES1949@aol.com.
