PENDLETON — Brain Purnell is a firm believer that art at its best is a revolutionary activity.

“When you make a statement that no one else makes, you’ve found yourself,” he said. “It’s something that comes from your core.”

Such was the message he wanted to instill in his students during his 30 years as an art teacher.

“Whether it’s pottery or painting or drawing, however you express yourself, make it honest and from the core of your being,” he said. “If you do that, it doesn’t make a difference what people think. They may love it or they may hate it. But if it represents who you are, that’s a brave act.”

Growing up in Arlington, Virginia, Purnell found an interest in art in the late 1960s amid the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. He recalls when Virginia integrated schools when he was an eighth grader. Later, he was involved in anti-war protests in Washington, D.C.

Purnell, who found inspiration through the beat poets and writers like Allen Ginsburg and Ken Kesey, appreciated the way that artists could challenge perspectives, including his own. So he took up teaching “as a form of activism to promote social change,” he said.

“Society was changing,” Purnell said. “And I was young and in the forefront of that. And I felt that the art room was a good place to encourage people to think their own thoughts and express themselves in a way they found enjoyable.”

Purnell later moved to Oregon, where he went to school at Lane Community College and the University of Oregon in Eugene, eventually getting a master’s degree in art education. In 1978, he got a job as an art teacher for the Pendleton School District and moved out to Eastern Oregon.

Over his years as a teacher, Purnell said he wanted to connect with students that are at first hesitant to create art because they’re hypercritical of themselves and others. He wanted to provide students with an opportunity to take simple materials and explore the creative process free of critique.

“Everybody in our society is so pigeonholed into what we expect and what we expect from others,” he said. “Through my entire career as an art teacher, I have encouraged students to find their own voice.”

Purnell said that he especially enjoyed working students with more difficult “thorny” personalities — those that required greater patience and encouragement.

“Teaching is just not like moving rocks from point A to point B,” he said.

Today, he will often run into these former students around town, sometimes at his art classes at the Pendleton Center for the Arts, where he’s taught since retirement.

When the pandemic began, Purnell found himself sculpting mugs and bowls two or three times a week. More recently, he has found an interest in sculpting with natural clay, travelling to areas along the hillsides leading into the Blue Mountains to find materials for his work.

Meanwhile, he has followed his other passion — photography. He often makes composite images of people, birds and landscapes with gloomy and surrealist overtones.

It’s a landscape he’s come to enjoy more and more with time.

“I love Eastern Oregon,” he said. “It took me a long time to adjust, because I thought everything should be green. But there’s a certain austerity and beauty and skeletal aspect to the mountains. This is just a gorgeous area.”

Purnell said that, when the pandemic ends and the art center reopens, he can’t wait to get back to teaching classes again. For him, the center embodies the tight-knit nature of the rural community that he’s grown to love.

“The art center is hugely important to the health and vitality of culture in Pendleton,” he said. “It’s a cultural hub.”

Check out what artisans in western Umatilla County and northern Morrow County are creating

Bryce’s DreamScapes

WHERE: www.facebook.com/Bryces-DreamScapes-394931517805134

ARTWORK: Specializes in oil landscape paintings. As a fun way to spread his art around the region, Bryce Southerland hosts art scavenger hunts. After hiding an original oil painting, he posts a photo of the general location on Bryce’s DreamScapes. To learn about Southerland’s art techniques, check out free painting classes this summer at the Hermiston Public Library.

COST: Original paintings range from $40 for an 8×10 to $500 for a 2-feet by 4-feet. He also does commissioned work.

CONTACT: brycesdreamscapes@gmail.com

Jens Aesthetics

WHERE: www.jensaesthetics.bigcartel.com, or via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

ARTWORK: As a survivor of abuse, Jennika Grigsby found a way to dream and express herself through creating jewelry, drawings and oil paintings. “My goal with my art is to not only release my pain and make something beautiful, but hopefully give someone else a piece of hope,” Grigsby said.

COST: Prices range from $3-$40

CONTACT: via her website or social media platforms.

J. Stark Enterprises Resin Art

WHERE: www.facebook.com/JStarkResinWorks or Instagram

ARTWORK: From abstract to realistic, Justin Stark creates original airbrush paintings on metal and wood. Then adding depth by sealing with layers of resin, Stark said the images look as if floating when complete.

COST: Ranges from $150-$500. Commissioned work is available with full payment required in advance after the image is approved.

CONTACT: 541-561-5260

KL Branson Art

WHERE: www.facebook.com/klbransonart; also can view a couple of pieces at The Pheasant Blue Collar Bar & Grill in Hermiston.

ARTWORK: Oil paintings featuring landscapes, seascapes, wildlife, and flowers. And starting to delve into people and horses. Branson also teaches oil painting classes. The cost is $150, which covers sessions (typically three) to create a painting. The fee includes all supplies, including a 16×20 canvas (size may vary).

COST: Branson’s artwork starts at $150 and up. Size starts at 11×14 stretch canvas and up. Will do commissioned landscapes and seascapes pieces.

CONTACT: KLBransonArt@gmail.com, 541-561-3284.

Lachme, aka Laura Munger Carter

WHERE: www.facebook.com/lachme

ARTWORK: Describing herself as a maker who works in various mediums, Carter specializes in LEGO mosaic portraits. According to a history of her LEGO work (www.inimitableiterations.blogspot.com), “it all began with Bogie.” After creating mostly pillars, towers and arches, she gained inspiration while reading a Humphrey Bogart biography. Other subjects have included Albert Einstein, Jack Nicholson from a scene in “The Shining” and Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. A LEGO portrait of Tom Cruise resulted in a 2009 Canadian marketing campaign award for the company that commissioned the piece.

COST: Typical prices have ranged from $400-$2,700, depending on the size and time factors. Carter offers finished work and also accepts commissions.

CONTACT: lachme@juno.com, 509-392-8288 (text only).

Linda Phillips Western Art

WHERE: www.facebook.com/Linda-Phillips-Western-Art-250690611649195

ARTWORK: An award-winning artist whose work has appeared in shows across the Western United States, Phillips specializes in contemporary horses and cowboys in pencil. In addition, she utilizes acrylics and other works include landscapes, plants and wildlife.

COST: Artwork has ranged from $300-$4,500. Phillips also does work on a commission basis.

CONTACT: via Messenger or www.facebook.com/linda.phillips.7165.

Mary K. Corp

WHERE: www.marykcorp.com, www.facebook.com/marykcorpartist, and at Kay C’s Art and Collectibles, 167 E. Main St., Hermiston.

ARTWORK: Corp’s passion for nature and life is reflected in her artwork, including landscapes, wildlife, and western scenes. She mostly paints outdoors on location, working in oils, acrylics and watercolors. Commissioned projects are available. Also, Corp is scheduling small classes and workshops.

COST: Artwork purchases typically range from $300-$750

CONTACT: marykaycorp29@gmail.com, 541-720-3859.

Muncy Designs

WHERE: www.instagram.com/muncydesigns, www.muncydesigns.com.

ARTWORK: Tony Muncy primarily does graphic design work related to outdoor recreation. He primarily uses digital illustrations but also enjoys watercolor, ink and other mediums for personal artwork.

COST: Most work is commissioned with the price depending on usage, detail, time and size.

CONTACT: muncydesigns@gmail.com.

Ozark Hippie Art and Creations

WHERE: Raised in the Ozarks, Kim La Plant is a creative artist who paints in her bus in Eastern Oregon. www.facebook.com/OzarkHippie-Art-and-Creations-1365469023566916

ARTWORK: Creative since a young age, as symptoms from a chronic health condition increased, it served as the catalyst for La Plant to focus her attention on her art. She works with watercolors, acrylic, oils, wood and recycled materials.

COST: Depending on the size, originals generally sell for $125-$600, while prints run between $10-$50. Commissioned pieces require a deposit up front.

CONTACT: 541-656-6754 or via Kim La Plant on Facebook.

Shea Stark

WHERE: www.instagram.com/art_by_shea_/

ARTWORK: Acrylic paintings on canvas or canvas board. Specializing in semi-realism. Virtually a self-taught artist, Stark, who is still a teenager, has also created custom Christmas cards and charcoal drawings.

COST: $45-$400. Available for commissioned pieces.

CONTACT: 541-561-6026.

Tesses Creative Messes

WHERE: www.facebook.com/TessesCreativeMesses

ARTWORK: Tesia Hunsucker Garcia creates mostly traditional oil scenery, and has done a few oil animal portraits. She also works with oil or acrylic paintings on wooden animal shapes.

COST: Depends on canvas size ($20-$250+), prints ($7-$50+) or wooden shape $20-$80+) and how much detail is involved.

CONTACT: 541-571-9704, or via Facebook message at Tesses Creative Messes.

T. Romig Creations

WHERE: www.tromigcreations.etsy.com as well as Facebook Instagram and Evangeline, 1201 Sixth St., Umatilla (a gift shop featuring the wares of artisans and crafters).

ARTWORK: Main mediums are acrylic art on wood and canvas. Many ready-to-sell options of original works, as well as commissioned Pet Portraiture pieces.

COST: Prices range from about $10 to several hundred.

CONTACT: tromigcreations@outlook.com.

WildBella Designs–Raelynn Moon

WHERE: Search Facebook for WildBella Designs

ARTWORK: Moon regularly works in several mediums. In addition to jewelry, she crafts pottery and oil paintings with a focus on portraits. And she’s open to your ideas — Moon’s motto is “if you can dream it, I can create it.”

COST: Jewelry from $5-$20; oil paintings, $200-$600; and other works on a commission basis with cost agreed upon prior to undertaking the project.

CONTACT: via direct message at www.facebook.com/raelynn.moon.98.

Zaftig Girl Art

WHERE: Some of Kate Pierson-Kopaczewski’s work grace the walls at Hale’s Restaurant & Lounge in Hermiston and she did the Rodeo Red labels at Echo Ridge Cellars; www.instagram.com/katekopaczdesigns; www.facebook.com/ZaftigGirl.voluptuous.art.

ARTWORK: Background in costume design and enjoys painting and drawing people and clothing. Pierson-Kopaczewski works with watercolors, acrylics, oil pastels, collage and mixed media. She teaches small art classes and paint & sip events.

COST: Works within clients’ budgets, from large to small. Paint classes are $30-$40 per class depending on the subject.

CONTACT: 208-596-9593 or via email at zaftiggirlart@gmail.com