Monte Shelton
D Street Park Memory, oil on canvas, 2022
This painting is a tribute to the past. It is a visual memory of the park across the street
from my house before a new development changed its landscape. Dan May would
have known this park as part of his neighborhood in this visual memory form. Dan
could be regularly seen walking the intercity neighborhoods and downtown of Salem.
He was a part of the landscape of Salem and now part of this memory.
I was born in 1952 in Salem, Or. I attended Western Oregon University in Monmouth,
OR from 1970-74, where studied with Larry Stobie and received a BS in Art and
Education. Then Washington State University, Pullman, WA from 1977-79 where I
received my MFA and studied with Gaylen Hansen, Jo Hockenhull and Robert Helm. I
have been a professional artist for over forty years and have shown my work in NYC,
Maryland, N Carolina, Oregon and Washington. I am a long time Oregon resident I love
the North West with its natural diversity and beauty which has been the source
inspiration for my art. In 1983 I moved from Salem to Portland, OR where I lived for 36
years, December 2018 I moved back to Salem to be near family, friends and a thriving
art community. The vast beauty and wonder of Oregon and the North West have been
a great inspiration for me on so many levels. From my childhood trailer camping days
on the Oregon Coast and state parks of the West Coast to my experiences of everyday
access and availability to this natural beauty has profoundly shaped my artistic
imagination, imagery, spirituality and how I see my world. My art is an expression of
these combined influences and experiences.
