I have a passion for the human figure and love the variety of expression in the human form. I want my paintings to be like visual poems, condensing time, creating a mood and evoking an emotion. People who buy my paintings often ask me to tell them the story in the painting, but I've learned that it's better not to tell my story. The painting must speak to the person who views it." - Pam Powell
Pam Powell combines her dedication to traditional art principles with her firm belief that those principles must communicate with the modern world. Calling herself a "contemporary representational painter", Pam paints the world she inhabits using the solid classical skills she's developed.
As a young woman Pam went to Europe where she fell in love with classical art. After her return to the United States she received a BFA degree in Sculpture from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and a second BFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Pam has studied painting with some of the most respected representational painters in this country including Huihan Liu, Zhaoming Wu, Craig Nelson and William Whitaker.
Recognizing her abilities as an artist and a communicator, the Academy of Art University invited Pam to join their faculty in 1995. She taught painting and composition there for twelve years, passing on the traditional skills she has honed. She decided after the 2007 Spring semester to devote full time to her successful painting career.
The Califonia Art Club membership jury chose Pam for its select "artist member" category in 2006. She also belongs to the Oil Painters of America and the Portrait Society of America.
Pam is represented by Leslie Levy Fine Art in Scottsdale, AZ.
Select Awards:
Second Prize; International Artist Magazine "Favorite Subjects" competition in the August/September 2007 issue.
Grand Prize; Portrait Art Society Annual Exhibition in San Francisco, CA in 2001
Select Exibitions:
March 2008 ~ "New Work", Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
November 2007 ~ " Introductions", Leslie Levy Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ
July 2007 ~ "Fresh Paint", Leslie Levy Fine Art, Scottsdale, AZ
February 2007 ~ " Year Five", invitational show, Graton Gallery, Graton, CA
September 2006 ~ Annual Invitational Show, Galerie Kornye West, Fort Worth, TX
February 2006 ~ " New Artists", Coda Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
September 2005 ~ Annual Invitational Show, Galerie Kornye West, Fort Worth, TX
May 2005 ~ Oil Painters of America National Juried Exibition, Hilligoss Galleries, Chicago, IL
April 2005 ~ "Soft Voices", two-person show, Graton Gallery, Graton, CA
April 2003 ~ " Interior Lives", solo show, Saint Francis Memorial Gallery, San Francisco, CA
July 2002 ~ "Layers of Time", invitational show, Iona Gallery, Dunsmuir, CA
June 2001 ~ Annual Portrait Exibition, Portrait Art Society, AAU Gallery, San Francisco, CA
