Provincetown Artist Registry, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, New England

PROVINCETOWN ARTIST REGISTRY

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z

Sienna Pamela

The paintings of wrapped or draped cloth are what they are. The viewerís perceptions and interpretations are an essential part of the work. The paintings emerge finished from the studio after months of very private labor. No one sees the slow process. Strictly a night person, I paint almost every night. My life revolves around the studio. My studio building is in the rear yard of the house I share with my husband in East Boston, Massachusetts. There I have no phone nor computer to interrupt the classical technique of oil painting. I work in solitude. Most of my friends and acquaintances are artists who appreciate the methodologies of contemplative work.

For many years I painted the human figure. A live model was required. The process was by necessity quicker and social. Now, painting still life, I can take as much time as I want. I can get as close as I want to in replicating the subject in paint, sometimes nearing trompe líoeil precision. The subject Iíve painted for the past several years is primarily cloth and the cord or ribbon binding it. It is both solid and elusive to paint. I begin with a loose, almost abstract chaos of line and under tone directly with the brush on a blank white panel. Then I must define and refine all the hills and valleys of the cloth as revealed by light and shadow until the baroque form is mastered into believability.

Often the backgrounds are both specific and vaporous: clouds, fire, smoke, explosions, the night sky. It is all a challenge to paint with tiny soft brushes with thin glazing layers of oil paint. Time must be allowed for drying between layers before more subtle adjustments can be made. Therefore I work on about 8 to 12 paintings at one time. Hours and hours of repetitive quiet work begin to add up to a realism. It is introspective and contemplative work reaching to reveal and yet the result is often a depiction of something mostly concealed by a curtain or entirely contained under wraps I am able to finish about 15 to 20 paintings a year. My husband aids me by making my frames.

Represented by Lyman-Eyer Gallery, 432 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657, tel. 508-487-3937, www.lymaneyerart.com