PAKC

PAMELA KELSO CRAIG

ARTIST STATEMENTS:

Personal Statement: I believe that only another artist can understand an artist. I feel there is a drive for an artist to visually express themselves that transcends any other need. I go through life with a permanent camera in my brain taking visual images and storing them for future references. I study life and moments to the nth degree because I never know when I will use just such a moment at any given time in one of my works. As an artist I believe that I tend to see more than others but with details that only I can perceive or imagine. While walking around town, or driving the car I am always trying out different compositions, color arrangements and new designs on the things I view. I may be considered distant or distracted, but the truth be known, I am mentally painting the picture or the scene at that very moment. At times I am driven by my own unseen need to visually display my emotions, to express myself to all the world, to open the wounds, to cry the tears all on paper or canvas.

Painting Styles: I have several styles and methods of producing my work but will discuss the 2 I use most frequently.

In some of my paintings I like to use a "seek and find" approach, not knowing what the subject will be or where the under painting will take me. An adventure with paint…no map or guide lines just pure joy of painting. This style is the basis for most of my abstracts. Layer upon layer of rich colors to give depth and a three dimensional quality, pouring paints, splashing paints and the use of colors and shapes to convey feelings I use various found objects to add deeper texture and a layering effect that make you ask, "how did she do that?" By adding subtle,(the use of color) to harsh (the use of found objects) I build a contrast that adds depth to the painted image.

Another style for me is one that is graphically realistic. This style I use to paint subjects that carry meaning for me and usually are full of symbolic figures. The realism is almost photographic in detail. The first style of seek and find is creative and open…somewhat freeing of the spirit. The second style is controlled and is followed with exactness, but this style usually captures the spirit of those who view it and can transport them to a moment in time in their own lives.

Conclusion: I would like to end with this thought. In my life I have had other names attached to me: wife, mother, daughter, teacher, caregiver, maid and cook. The one true name I need --is to be called an artist. To let life's various requirements take hold and occupy my time and for me not to pursue the gift that has been given me was painful. I believe, this could be the reason so many artists who have reached a certain age and time in their life, find that nothing can hinder them from this goal of being an artist any longer. They pursue it with a vengeance.....

I may never reach the goal of having my work hung in a museum or I may never capture the notoriety and fame of other artist's, but I will always be able to say that I have at least given it my best shot..........