Del Mar artist Pamela Fox Linton creates beauty as she finds it in the unexpected.
Calling upon her extraordinary sense of balanced color, line, and texture, her large abstract paintings, which often incorporate found objects, have not only a soothing effect on the viewer, but are at the same time mysterious and powerful.
An active member and exhibiting artist of The Del Mar Art Center for 12 years, Linton has served the last two years as Gallery Manager responsible for the visual appeal of the space located in the Del Mar Plaza at 15th Street and Camino Del Mar.
She also serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit organization.
Having spent many of her formative years in Park Forest, Ill., just 40 miles south of Chicago, as a schoolgirl, Linton took many field trips to Chicago museums, her favorite of which was The Chicago Art Institute.
She reflects, “Over the years I have appreciated and been influenced by many varied artists whose work I saw as a young girl.
“Going back to the Art Institute as an adult, seeing the same paintings I saw as a child was an emotional experience. How lucky I was to experience those masters at an early age and be affected by them throughout my entire life.”
Linton earned a bachelor’s degree in interior ddesign with a minor in architecture at Southern Illinois University and later worked with a Chicago interior design firm.
She remembers, “I was drawn to the contemporary art that I would see in museums and in contemporary living and office spaces.”
Originally learning in school to paint and draw realistically, Linton says, “When I began to appreciate artists like Jackson Pollack, Robert Rauschenberg, and Willem de Kooning, I had to learn to loosen up.”
Relocating to southern California in the 1970’s, Linton and her husband Scott later settled in the Del Mar area where they raised their two daughters.
Linton gained further inspiration for her paintings by visiting New York City’s art museums and galleries during the decade they owned a second home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Linton describes her artistic process, “I like using mixed media to create works that are one of a kind and evolve as I’m creating and layering them. Paints can be transparent or opaque… Textures and objects can create patterns and design elements.
“There is no expectation, but then later there is a feeling of satisfaction when I’ve decided that the outcome is successful. I enjoy the complete process, from unwrapping a fresh canvas, to applying the materials, to finally attaching the hanging wire.”
Harkening back to her education as a designer of interior spaces, Linton says of her recent paintings, “My mission is to not merely fill a space on a wall, but to make living and working environments reflect the people who dwell in them. Their art should relax them, motivate them, or make them feel passionate about their lives and experiences.”
Believing in the adage “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Linton gives new life to discarded items as she often incorporates found objects into her paintings. She enjoys perusing flea markets and antique shops for unusual components to incorporate into her assemblage jewelry available at the Del Mar Art Center, while also maintaining a trove of treasures at The Antique Warehouse on Cedros Avenue in Solana Beach.
In addition to being regularly displayed at Del Mar Art Center, Linton’s paintings have been exhibited in many regional galleries including the San Diego Art Institute,
San Diego Women Artists, and Off Track Gallery. Her work is scheduled to be exhibited at the Encinitas Civic Center during 2014.
Through the end of December, Linton’s abstract paintings are on display in “Extempore,” a group exhibit at L Street Fine Art Gallery. The show features four additional North County artists including Victoria Bearden, Roger Chandler, Sean Keany, and Sheryl Tempchin, with an opening reception to be held Nov. 8 from 6 to 9 p.m. L Street Fine Art is at 628 L Street, San Diego.
For more information about Pamela Fox Linton, visit her website at pamelafoxlinton.com.
Kay Colvin is director of the L Street Fine Art Gallery in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, serves as an arts commissioner for the City of Encinitas, and specializes in promoting emerging and mid-career artists. Contact her at [email protected].
