About Michelle Severe

I am a self-taught western and wildlife artist and have been involved with art my whole life, balancing it with family, horses, and ranch life. These personal experiences are reflected in my artwork.

My mediums are oils, pastel, pencil, pen & ink, glass etching, wood burning and scrimshaw. I've always stayed busy with various forms of commission work. My pen & ink work led me into trying scrimshaw for Dale Duby of Great Basin Art in Prairie City, Oregon. I learned to scrim and carve on all kinds of antlers including the handles of the obsidian knives he makes. We have been represented in the Cabela’s and The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Banquet catalogues, Celebration of Fine Art, Scottsdale AZ with Robert Behr Pottery, and many upper end gift shops across the pacific northwest and Alaska. I also do custom artwork on handmade juniper furniture with wood burned and painted scenes, etched mirrors and gun cabinets. I have worked for Dale for over 12 years now, and he also sells my own artwork. You can take a look at his store Great Basin Art here: greatbasinart.com

I've also done all the scrim work for Silver Stag knives, makers of quality steel hunting knives. These knives are marketed all over the world. Check out silverstagknives.com. I'm also represented at Hamley's in Pendleton, Oregon  hamley.com, as well as Designs by Linda Gallery and Gift Shop, and Burns Glass and Picture Framings both in Burns, Oregon.

My other statement is co-existence! The balance and co-existence between ranching, livestock, wildlife and the land we care so much about. Our landscapes and way of live are changing fast due to urban growth and special interest groups, who do not understand our traditional values. Hopefully I can present all this in a way that’s not only truthful, but beautiful, and makes sense to those who have never had the chance to experience it! Life is co-existentially beautiful!

Michelle and her husband Stewart live in Burns, Oregon. Stewart is a livestock auctioneer and assistant manager for Producers Livestock Association in Vale, Oregon. He handles a lot of cattle in the local area and Michelle and Stewart help a lot of ranchers in the area at branding and shipping time. They raise a few Quarter Horses and are actively involved in the local Cutting Horse Club, Stock Horse and Team Roping events.

A soon to be published book has Michelle doing the artwork for Oregon's Living Legends, written by Andi Harmon. Andi Harmon is a volunteer and mentor for the Burns, Oregon BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program. She has been involved with the BLM for several years and has been involved with wild horses in general for over 40 years. She has cared for many orphan foals for the BLM, assisted with adoptions, processing wild horses, gentling and training wild horses and promoting the wild horse and burro program. Her upcoming book encompasses the world of wild horses in general, and the management and characteristics in particular of Oregon's Wild Horse and Burro program.