BIOGRAPHY

I appreciate and respect many types of artwork. I have studied the lives and philosophies of many historically significant artists, which has led me to experiment with many different art forms and materials. I am a painter at heart. I enjoy working with various painting mediums including oils, acrylics, watercolor and pastels. Color and design are strong elements in my compositions.

My current passion is to paint to create transparencies, to capture volume through the use of reflected light and cast shadows. To do this, I am currently working in two mixed media, acrylic, gold leaf, and oil pastels. The layering of pigment and the possibilities of unlimited textures drives me beyond the concern of capturing a realistic subject matter. I am currently painting a series of grape vines; the complexity of their shapes allows me to move beyond the subject and enjoy the varieties of painting surfaces and applications of the pigment.

My career teaching high school has promoted my life-long commitment to research, the study of art history, and the current events and trends that occur in an artist's lifetime. Teaching has also required that I continuously hone my drawing and painting skills. As a teenager I studied privately with a painter in Spain who taught me how to oil paint. Because of the location of his studio, I was able to visit Madrid's Prado art museum and admire historically significant paintings. I was intrigued that this artwork would have been preserved for the future, and that it was of such value that people spent hours, even lifetimes, striving to understand its technique and meaning, which at times seems so unattainable.

I continued my education at UC Davis at a time when many accomplished modern artists were teaching there. I was privileged to study under Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Arneson, Darrel Forney and others who inspired me and taught me skills I continue to refine daily. During summers when not teaching I also attended the San Francisco Academy of Art and traveled in the United States and Europe, visiting museums that house some of the great art work of the world.

My drawings and paintings have been exhibited regionally, reside in private collections, and are owned by regional businesses, including Whinchester Country Club. I am a member of the Placer County and Loomis Loop Studio Tours. Current work is exhibited at the High Hand Gallery in Loomis, CA. My paintings have been accepted into juried art competitions, including the ARTS Gallery-Auburn, Roseville Arts Center and the Crocker and KVIE Invitational Art Auctions.

I am currently painting large scale acrylic portraits using Golden Open Acrylics. These paints have been developed to allow artists to use traditional oil painting techniques with the ease of water based paints. Their extended drying time permits the painter to use the glazing methods of the old masters. Please call my studio if you would like to commission a portrait of this nature.

Paula Amerine