August 2025 - Dominique Ovalee-Kongsli

Dominique grew up in the Bay Area where her earliest memories are of a house filled with music—two pianos being played on separate sides of the house. “My entire family is musical, and I remember painting to music as soon as I could hold a paintbrush.” Later, her older sister, discovering that 13-year-old Dominique had pierced her belly button, wasted no time telling their parents. Her punishment: being grounded for three months. “I couldn’t call my friends or go out on the weekends. It was a very isolating time, so I found some oil paints around the house and just painted. In high school I saw an image in National Geographic and wondered if I could translate it with paint onto the canvas. I loved the challenge of translating something I saw into something I made.”

That challenge inspired Dominique to pursue degrees in art, graduating from Pepperdine University and Claremont Graduate University. She credits titans like Mary Cassatt, Richard Schmid, and Claude Monet for their impact on her approach to composition and light. Oil painting holds an undeniable allure for her. “Oil paintings are sexy,” Dominique says. “The paint glistens sensuously atop the canvas, luxurious and velvety. It’s my favorite medium. However, the stakes are high—there’s the cost of materials, but also my energy must be extremely focused so I can capture the radiant wing of a butterfly or the spray of silver in the waves. I think to myself, ‘I better make this good.’ I would say my creative superpower is having ideas, so many inspirations, and so many things I want to paint.”

Now in her thirties, with two young children, ages three and five, Dominique has entered what she calls “a unique and sacred season.” Extended hours in front of a canvas are now hard to come by. “Motherhood has taught me to adapt, to savor small moments, and to find meaning in the margins. It’s changed my art, but it’s also made it more meaningful.” For the moment she’s put oils aside for watercolors. “Oils demand steadfast commitment, but watercolors have excellent ‘interruptability.’ I can put them aside to make lunch or play with my children without worrying about losing the flow of the work.”

Dominique describes her watercolor paintings as “quirky, fun, and lighthearted.”

Among the recurring motifs in her watercolors are anthropomorphized trees where the natural markings become eyes. Her travels in Thailand inspired these playful, yet profound forms. Given the demands of being a wife, mother, teacher, writer, and mentor, Dominique’s personal mantra is, “My direction is more important than my speed. It consists of letting myself be cared for by my Creator. My direction is belief—that a painting will work out—and that my life will work out, too. It’s not about speed or quantity. It’s about intention. I want each piece of art I make, whether it is large or small, to be loaded with joy, emotion, and beauty.”

Dominique has collaborated with Bend photographers to capture realistic landscapes, amping up colors and using the tiniest four-hair brush to create trees. From giant murals of butterflies to small canvases capturing flowers or faces, Dominique celebrates life around her.

For her, there’s a distinct difference in the process of realistic versus abstract painting. “In the landscapes or portraits, there’s a finite ending. These pieces can be completed in steps and stages that I’m in control of. With abstract pieces, there’s always the risk that I’ll never feel finished with it because I think it needs more tweaking. My drive to create abstract art is because I don’t know what it will look like in the end.”

For emerging artists, Dominique has this advice, “Stay open to inspiration. Respond with whatever energy you have, be it little or much. Every brushstroke carries intention, and every medium tells its own tale.” See Dominique share her art and process on You Tube—painting with her baby son strapped to her back.

To explore more of Dominique Ovalle-Kongsli’s work, visit: dominiquekongsli.com