Jeanne Levasseur
Lake Oswego, OREGON
Oregon-based oil painter inspired by atmosphere, landscape, memory, light, and the emotional resonance of place.
Message
Jeanne Levasseur’s artistic sensibilities were shaped by the untamed landscape surrounding her family’s ten wooded acres outside Bellingham, Washington. The forests, fields, distant mountains, and ever-changing skies of the Pacific Northwest became a lasting source of fascination and inspiration from an early age. It was during these formative years that she developed a lifelong practice of observing the natural world — particularly the shifting atmosphere, light, and emotional presence of the sky — elements that continue to play a central role in her work today.
Levasseur earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Western Washington University, where she studied under Dr. Thomas Schlotterback and Tom Sherwood. Their mentorship helped shape both her technical foundation and her appreciation for the emotional and poetic possibilities of landscape painting.
After spending a decade working in managerial positions outside the arts, Levasseur ultimately returned to painting with renewed purpose, dedicating herself fully to the pursuit of fine art. Working primarily in oil, she creates atmospheric landscapes and skyscapes inspired by the natural beauty and changing moods of the Pacific Northwest.
Drawing from plein air sketches, photography, memory, and intuition, her paintings evolve through a balance of observation and emotional response. Rather than focusing solely on literal representation, Levasseur seeks to capture the essence and atmosphere of a place — the stillness before a storm, the warmth of late light, or the quiet solitude found in open spaces.
Her work explores themes of memory, contemplation, longing, peace, and emotional connection through the interplay of color, light, shape, and atmosphere. Vast skies, distant trees, and shifting weather become recurring motifs within paintings that invite reflection and quiet introspection.
Based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, Levasseur continues to explore the intersection of landscape and emotion through paintings that seek to capture not only what is seen, but what is felt.
Statement
My work is rooted in an emotional connection to landscape, atmosphere, and the natural world. While the Pacific Northwest has profoundly shaped my visual language, travel and direct experience with diverse environments continue to inform and inspire my paintings
Working primarily in oil, I begin with observation — often through plein air studies, photography, or memory — but the painting process itself quickly becomes intuitive. Rather than attempting to recreate a scene exactly as it appeared, I seek to distill its emotional essence: the stillness before a storm, the weight of gathering clouds, the warmth of late light, or the quiet solitude found in open spaces.
Atmosphere and mood play a central role in my work. I am especially drawn to skies because they are endlessly changing and deeply expressive. Clouds, light, and weather become metaphors for memory, longing, peace, reflection, and emotional presence. Through layered color, subtle shifts in value, and the interplay between abstraction and representation, I aim to create paintings that invite contemplation and emotional connection.
Trees and landscapes frequently emerge as recurring motifs within my work, serving not only as physical forms but also as symbolic presences — markers of endurance, isolation, vulnerability, and resilience. I am interested in the tension between permanence and impermanence, and in the way nature mirrors the complexity of human experience.
Ultimately, my paintings are an exploration of atmosphere, memory, and emotional truth. They are invitations to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the quiet and often overlooked moments of beauty that exist within both the landscape and ourselves.