Pamela Pindell

Working with Pam has been the highlight of my career as an art model.  Not only have we produced some beautiful work together, we have become good friends.

I use to joke around with people that ask me why I model.  My response, "because I want to become immortal like the Mona Lisa".  It is just a joke but working with Pam has certainly taken me closer to this goal.

We first started working together right after I arrived in Boston in the summer of 2009.  She got my name from The Guild of Boston Artists.  She wanted to do a charcoal study of the torso.  It was a reclining pose that forced my torso into an arched position, revealing all of the beautiful anatomy that attracts us to the nude.  The piece was completed, framed and hung in the window at The Guild of Boston Artists on Newbury street.

While the work was beautiful as a reclining pose, Pam was not satisfied.  It bugged her that something was not right about the drawing.  It just did not have the strength she wanted to portray with this study.  Finally she took the drawing back, called me to come back in and turned the drawing into a standing pose.  It took some reworking of the drawing but the results are stunning.


This is absolutely one of my favorite drawings.  I love it so much that it is the symbol on my business card as well as the opening image on my website, www.edbarron.com.

Male nude by Pamela Pindell

Man with the fur collar

For the next project, Pam wanted to honor one of her teachers and a former head of The Guild of Boston Artists that had recently passed away - Robert Comier.

Man with the fur collar by Robert Comier

Mr Comier's most famous painting was Man with the Fur Collar.  I have run into several people that knew Mr. Comier and have been told stories about who the model was.  Some of the stories are not very flattering to the model so I will not repeat them here.  It is not important anyway because the beauty that the artist captures when a model is sitting there comes from within the artist.

While the model may provide inspiration, the beauty that is put down onto the canvas is the responsibility of the artist.

Pam draws inspiration from the connection she feels with the model.  As we continue to work together, that connection strengthens and every piece seems to be better than the one before.  It is the pure love of the artistic process that is unleashed within Pam when she connects with her subject.  That is what makes her such a powerful figurative artist.

We started Pam's version of 'Man with the fur collar' with a charcoal study.  I took some pictures of this project along the way and the first one here is when the drawing was loose and flowing.

Personally, I like this image better than the final drawing.  Mostly because I feel it is a better representation of me and my personality.

While the final drawing is beautiful, the person in the drawing is very regal looking and it does not fit my personality.  That is just my opinion and since the bulk of the viewers of the final drawing are never going to know who the model is, it will be appreciated as it is.

Charcoal study for 'Man with the fur collar' by Pamela Pindell

The oil version of "Man with the fur collar" is brilliant.  There are similarities with Comier's model in age and the silver hair but this version is more open.  The model is looking you in the eye and the coat is open.  The open neck of the shirt reveals the neck that is rendered so beautifully. The colors are rich and the intensity of the blue eyes and how they follow you around the room makes this piece more than a portrait of the model.  The viewer connects with the painting.

Man with the fur collar by Pamela Pindell

December

Pam often says that she must fall in love with her models.  The significance of that did not occur to me until our latest painting.  Pam has the ability to capture the emotion she feels for her subject. It does not matter if it is a still life, landscape or a nude torso study, this artist provides the viewer a chance to feel the passion she struggles to release onto the canvas.  I say struggle because it is definitely a struggle for Pam.  Her paintings do not come forth easily.  She starts with an idea or inspiration but that she must coax out of herself in her labor of love.  

When we are working together, often we chat or listen to music.  Sometimes we have conversations and I know that she is not really listening to me because she is concentrating so much on her work.

'December' was finished on November 5th, 2011.  It is a life size standing nude.

This first image is an up close view of the face.  The head slightly forward with the eyes open but cast down.  As the piece came together, the experience I had when viewing the painting was the following of emotion.  Like the eyes of some paintings follow you around, the emotions evoked by this painting seem to follow you around.  Sometimes the image was sad and at other times resolute peacefulness.  Sincere and deep contemplation of a full life is another feeling that is often invoked.  

The painting is 42 x 48 oil.  All of Pam's work is done in natural lighting.  We took two different photos of the painting; one with studio lighting and the other in natural lighting.  I couldn't decide which I liked best for this blog post so I decided to post both versions and let you decide for yourself.

'December' by Pamela Pindell (studio light)

'December' by Pamela Pindell (natural light)

Some of the comments that came from a couple of Pam's ardent supporters and critics:

It's as if he's standing before God, waiting to be judged.  He's serious, humble, but not frightened, because he has a good heart and no darkness inside him. - Nancy Thayer, author.

As with all of your work I see it as a self portrait. You painted it head on as if to say, here I am, this is me , I have nothing to hide. This is a statement on the dignity of aging. The tight lips and strong jaw line say that there is no room for conversation here. Your hair looks like icicles matching the cold wintery backround, where you stand alone, eyes cast down contemplating the next step forward. This is a structure composed of many geometric triangles, one stacked upon another and the muscles strain to carry and hold up the weight. All of this and at the center of the the canvas is the heart. Right where it belongs. - Douglas Flackman, painter.

The painting will be on display the entire month of December at The Guild of Boston Artists on Newbury Street.  I hope you have a chance to visit because the photos in this blog definitely does not do it justice.  For more of Pam's work, visit www.pamelapindell.com.  

What is her next project?  I don't think Pam even knows the answer to that.  It is the excitement and inspiration that must comes from within her before she can start another project.  We will all just have to stay tuned to see what comes next.