About Leona Gamble — Leona Gamble Art

Meet the Artist

I am an award-winning figurative oil painter drawn to the space where myth, memory, and transformation meet. My work explores the inner terrain of human experience and the relationships between instinct and consciousness, the personal and the archetypal, and the unseen forces that shape who we become.

Each painting is a quiet offering. They arrive slowly, built in layers, often emerging from dreams or deep emotional undercurrents. I think of them as story-keepers, mirrors that invite viewers to recognize something both deeply personal and universally human.

I am drawn to the rhythms that exist beneath everyday life: the movement between grief and renewal, surrender and resilience, solitude and belonging. Animals, mythological references, and recurring symbols become companions within these narratives, offering ways to explore what can be difficult to name directly. Rather than illustrating a single story, I want the paintings to leave space for viewers to discover their own.

My paintings are held in private collections throughout the United States and internationally. I am a Juried Artist Member of the California Art Club, where my painting Reciprocal received the inaugural Gold Medal for Imaginative Realism in the 115th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition at the Hilbert Museum of California Art. My work has been exhibited with the California Art Club, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Modern Eden Gallery, and other juried exhibitions and galleries nationally.

I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from California State University, Long Beach, and continued my studies in traditional representational drawing at the Hein Atelier of Traditional Art.

I live and paint in Redlands, Southern California, where shifting light, desert landscapes, and the persistent presence of the wild continue to find their way into my work.

“The Artist” A Short Film by Raji Barbir

Thank you for stepping into my world. Explore the current collections, or reach out if something speaks to you.

View Available Works | Contact the Studio

Awards & Honors

2026

Gold Medal Award, Inaugural Imaginative Realism Category
California Art Club, 115th Gold Medal Exhibition, Hilbert Museum of California Art

2024

1st Place, Oil Painting Category
Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts

2023

First Prize
2nd Annual Women in Art

Merit Prize
Chaos and Order

Selected Exhibitions

2026

• Art & the Sacred, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
• 115th Gold Medal Exhibition, California Art Club, Hilbert Museum of California Art, Orange, CA
• Look at Me, Sasse Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
• Stardust Hymns, Poetic Tiger Gallery
• If It's Not Broque, Don't Fix It, Poetic Tiger Gallery
• Altered Eyes, Artlands Gallery, Redlands, CA

2025

• 114th Gold Medal Exhibition, California Art Club, VEFA Gallery, Torrance, CA
• Lumen, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR

2024

• A Generous Kingdom VIII, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• Chasing Ghosts VIII, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• Whisper!, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• 12th Annual Portrait Show: Myth, Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
• Liminal III, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• Arts North International, Hopkins Center for the Arts, Hopkins, MN

2023

• A Generous Kingdom VII, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• Chaos and Order
• 2nd Annual Women in Art
• Abrazo, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR

2022

• Liminal II, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• Packard Group National Exhibition, No. 7 Center Gallery, South Dakota
• Strata, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• Chasing Ghosts VII, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• A Generous Kingdom VI, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR

2021

• Chasing Ghosts VI, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• AIRE, Federation Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
• Liminal, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR

2020

• A Generous Kingdom V, Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland, OR
• AIRE, Federation Gallery, Vancouver, Canada

Solo Exhibitions

2023

• Living Room Art Show, hosted by Ryan Shuput, June, Salt Lake City, UT

2022

• Whispering into the Well, Desde el Salón, June 25, Salt Lake City, UT

Associations

• Juried Artist Member, California Art Club
• Board Member, Sasse Museum of Art

Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting
California State University, Long Beach

Private Study
Hein Atelier of Traditional Art, Salt Lake City, UT
Classical Figure Drawing under Jeff Hein

Selected Publications & Press

“Redlands Artist Selected for Prestigious Gold Medal Art Exhibition”
Inland Empire News, May 14, 2025, p. A4
Feature on Gamble’s selection for the California Art Club’s 114th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition.

“She Raised Wolves” — 114th Gold Medal Exhibition
Fine Art Connoisseur, June 2025, p. 47
Coverage of Gamble’s symbolic figurative painting in the California Art Club’s Gold Medal Exhibition.

“She Raised Wolves” — 114th Gold Medal Exhibition
American Art Collector, June 2025, p. 4
Feature on Gamble’s work in the California Art Club’s annual Gold Medal Exhibition.

Interview: “Meet Leona Gamble”
Canvas Rebel, January 30, 2024
An in-depth conversation exploring Gamble’s artistic journey, inspiration, and voice.

Exhibition Cover Artist — “Abrazo”
Verum Ultimum Gallery, July 2023
Selected as the cover artist for an exhibition celebrating emotional and symbolic connection.

Artist Talk: “Leona Gamble and Her Personal Myths”
Fine Art Shippers, July 12, 2022
Conversation on myth, symbolism, and the feminine psyche in Gamble’s body of work.

Exhibition Cover Artist — “Strata”
Verum Ultimum Gallery, July 2022
Cover artist for an exhibition exploring layered meaning and transformation.

“Contemporary Figurative Art by Leona Gamble”
300 Magazine, August 22, 2020
Online feature highlighting Gamble’s narrative-driven figurative oil paintings.