2011 bio/artist statement
"In wildness is the preservation of the world.” Thoreau's famous quote embodies the paradox that June Ellen Bradley has tracked through the many expressions of a well-lived life. The beautiful diversity and raw vitality that constantly moves Nature beyond all boundaries and shields her from stagnation is somehow what also creates the deep roots and tranquil stability that forms the foundation we build our lives upon. June Ellen, an academically trained biologist, followed the thread of that wildness into the Healing Arts and became an Herbalist and celebrated author who has studied, lectured and taught across the two continents of the Americas while maintaining a successful private practice.
The same golden thread of wildness called to her artist's eye and hand, leading her to explore that dichotomy of Freedom and Structure as an in-demand commission portrait painter and muralists whose work graces some of the finest homes, galleries, and public places across the country. Recently, she has followed her Passion for that unfolding wildness into the sphere of Nature Education, teaching in College and Adult education settings on the subjects of Tracking, Conservancy, and Communion.
Her deeply spiritual outlook embraces that mixed vein of wildness and stability that twines through Art, Nature and Healing, combining them all as the Art Director at a nationally recognized Mental Health Facility. With that experience and through her studies at the Adawehi Institute and Healing Center, she has refined her approach of empowering people to replace fear and uncertainty with discovery and imagination.
She is currently looking for a position or opportunity that would allow her to continue building the inter-connection of those 3 disciplines. In pursuit of this aim, she offers commission illustrations and paintings, Art lessons, Nature Education classes and plant walks, and Healing Gatherings. June Ellen welcomes your input and inquiries and can be contacted in her office at the Polk County Ag. Center in Mill Springs, NC or by email at studioBug7@gmail.com .
