Pamela J Black

Finding a sense of balance between chaos and control through meditative and intuitive abstract art

From her artistic beginnings working in portraiture and realism, Pamela J. Black has changed course to become a noted artist using her interpretive and intuitive process to create abstract works that are authentic and personal while bringing order back to the composition itself. In her artist statement, she says, “Ultimately, my creative process is fueled by a need to find a sense of balance between chaos and control.” She goes on to say that art is the one constant that she turns to in her life when she needs to express herself.

Black, who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kutztown University, began her art journey experimenting in various mediums while trying to decide between drawing and painting. It was during a trip to Italy in her Junior year that she realized she was destined to concentrate on painting. “At that point I was working in oils and watercolors. I didn’t move to acrylics until later in my career,” she says.

During her college years, the first show she applied to was Art of the State at the Harrisburg State Museum. She was accepted for the 2007 exhibit. “Back in 2007, there was no social media; artists created slides for submissions into juried exhibits, and it was difficult to get your work out into the public. I created a website but back then who was really looking at websites? It was difficult to find an audience,” she says. She was still living at home at that point and had a job totally unrelated to the arts but taught a few art classes at Carlisle Arts and Learning Center (CALC) and worked for the Art House Lounge, which had then just opened on 2nd Street in Harrisburg. She also had a gallery space at Studio 13 in Mechanicsburg.

“Trying to be a full-time artist was just not working out for me, so I went back to school and received a master’s in education degree and was immediately hired as the art teacher for grades K-3 for the Central York School System.” She did this for five years, putting her own creativity on the back burner while she worked with children, moving them forward in their creativity.

In 2015, when she had her first child, a daughter, she made the decision to retire from teaching and become a full-time mom. For her artistic outlet she opened an Etsy shop, painting pet portraits, family portraits, and house portraits. All these creations were done in watercolor and ink. “I was super successful and doing what I love but I wasn’t connecting with my buyers, viewers, or other artists. This was my first step to becoming a professional artist and I did it for two years before becoming totally burned out.” She was experimenting with her abstract art at that time and in 2017, after the birth of her second child, a son, she began creating a body of abstract work and started applying to enter art shows again. “It brought back my passion for art and in 2019 I moved into The Millworks in an upstairs studio. This filled the need for a sense of artistic community which I was longing for.”

Black enjoys working in mural art and has created a large mural on two walls of Wild Rabbit Pies & Pints, a new eatery serving food and ‘pints’ from Ever Grain Brewing Company. The restaurant is in New Cumberland. Other mural works by Black also adorn the staircase and a hallway of Source the Space, another New Cumberland business that has exhibition, photography, and performance space available for rent.

In addition to her successful commissionsbased business, another venture that Black has is a collaboration with shoe designer

Michael Grey, to create an artists’ series of Birkenstocks that he makes. There are three of Black’s paintings available as designs for the sandals. These are made to order, and each pair is one of a kind. Information on this is supplied at the end of this article.

Going from the tight work necessary for portraiture to a much freer approach to the canvas through a meditative and intuitive style required her change from oils to acrylics, often using water to layer an area or water down another area to create a droplet effect of swirling colors.

“I always carry a notebook while walking or traveling so I can make notes on what I am experiencing or what I see. I often take photos so I can remember the exact color palate of something that caught my eye.” She adds that music is very important to her creative process: “It’s always blasting when I’m painting, mostly I listen to Indie Rock.” She laughingly adds, “I was raised by Deadheads, so this is natural for me.”

Art has been a catharsis for Black, first during a period when she experienced three miscarriages before giving birth to her son, and now as she works her way through her father’s recent diagnosis of stage four lung cancer. “My work has become very emotional and sometimes angry in nature as I work through this process. I’m even using images from dad’s lung scans, trying to turn that dark feeling into a cathartic moment.”

Black’s art consistently is exhibited by local and regional galleries and graced the cover of The Burg magazine in 2022. Also, in 2022 Black held a solo exhibition at CALC titled Art and Motherhood. This exhibit was artwork she had created along with artwork she collaborated on with her two young children, working back and forth to create each painting. Her children were instrumental in helping title their pieces of art.

Black closes by saying, “Next year my youngest will be off to school, so I want to do more art classes and workshops and open my large home studio for pop-up shows featuring works by other artists.”

Read more about Black at her website www.pamelajblack.com ; on Facebook at pamelajblackart ; and Instagram @ pamelajblackart. She is a resident artist at the Millworks in studio #104. Her Birkenstocks are available from the website mgsandalfactory. com/collections/pamela-black.