Pamela Stewart —An Invitation to Escape and Breathe

Pamela Stewart —An Invitation to Escape and Breathe - theHumm March 2024

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

theHumm’s mandate is to connect and promote Ottawa Valley people and events, and that is why abstract mixed media artist Pamela Stewart is qualified to be our featured artist this month. The website of this Kanata-based artist at paminottawa.com proudly proclaims that she is Co-Owner/Gallerist of the new Carleton Place Gallery located at 210 Bridge Street.

Carleton Place Gallery

In 2023 Pam partnered with two other Valley artists (featured previously in theHumm — Ginny Fobert, Oct. 2020, and Colleen Gray, Aug. 2020), and with the huge support of husbands, friends and sponsors, the trio has conceived and created an already flourishing community arts hub.

This invigorating addition to the Valley’s art scene is fast making its presence known, with a full roster of exhibitions and events that span the arts. A quick click on cpgallery.ca discloses the multiple offerings of local and regional fine art, studio and space rental, a plethora of fascinating workshops and a wide-ranging offering of events as varied as the Art House Music Series and the March Break photo camps for teens. And thanks to a partnership with artist and entrepreneur Patrick John Mills, the Carleton Place Gallery is a satellite store for Renfrew’s Art Factory, offering great prices on art supplies for beginners to fine artists.

Doing What Comes Naturally

Many of us escape into a good book or movie when we feel overwhelmed by the constant barrage of warnings about the state of our planet and what we humans are and should be doing about it. Not Pamela Stewart. She heads into her home studio and immerses herself in the creation of abstract mixed media paintings that celebrate the textures and shapes and colours surrounding us in the natural world. She says she has never quite experienced the world at face value, seeing a tree as a tree, or a lake as a lake; instead, she sees the texture of bark and the veins of leaves in an intense, macro way — almost like swimming, immersed in your senses.

Stewart’s paintings are stunning and evocative. Their titles are apt: Unearthed, Bubbling to the Surface, Force of Nature, Forest Bath… Her wellbeing is inextricably attached to nature, and her abstract art is the intuitive expression of that connection. In her own words, “Responding to the stunning array of textures, forms, colours, as well as sounds and smells, I have always reacted in a visceral way to my world, seeing objects and reacting to my senses abstractly and with intensity.”

She creates in an innovative and exuberant way, experimenting with modern materials such as art resin, synthetic paper, alcohol inks, glass paints and anything else that strikes her fancy. Her paintings are characterized by three-dimensional texture and visual depth. Their flowing organic movement and dynamic use of colour draw the viewer ever closer to examine each facet of her intuitive and spontaneous response to the wonders of the natural world.

Go With the Flow

Born in Moose Jaw to a military family, Pam lived in Germany and Winnipeg before embracing water sports in Edmonton, then going on to become “female athlete of the year” multiple times during high school in Labrador. Moving from Winnipeg to Ottawa after high school, she earned a degree in journalism at Carleton University, playing all four years on their varsity water polo team. She met her husband playing competitive volleyball at the age of thirty, and in her early fifties she is still playing in the competitive Ottawa league.

Water remains a major factor in her life, and her passion sparked strongly at the onset of the pandemic when she developed a love for long distance open-water swimming. She is an ice swimmer even now, in February in Ottawa, and she also loves to kayak and paddle on her stand-up paddleboard.

Pam is adventurous, and she really does go with the flow. After university she explored a variety of career possibilities, including an offer to relocate to the Ozarks of Arkansas to work as a copywriter. After she was denied a Green Card to work in the U.S., she spent most of her 20s working as an indie filmmaker, eventually becoming VP of the Independent Filmmakers Co-op of Ottawa. In her 30s she rewrote her job description and worked her way up to become the editor of award-winning Golf Business Canada magazine.

Swimming Upstream

Soon after giving birth to twins, Pam joined the Canadian Public Service. She was hired to leverage her early-adapter computer skills to provide guidance to several departments in modernizing their digital communications strategies and services. After several frustrating experiences where her well-received proposals were either left languishing, or her superiors claimed credit, she resigned.

Nine years ago, when the twins were four years old, she desperately needed a creative outlet. She signed up for an adult mixed media class and was introduced to textured modelling paste, gel media, art resin epoxy, alcohol inks, palette knives and more. As she puts it, “A whole new world of possibilities opened up!” Within six years Pam Stewart’s art was featured in Ottawa’s Luxe lifestyle magazine, showcasing her striking abstracts hanging in some of the region’s finest homes. She confidently offers a no-risk process for art commissions. As she states on her website, “If you aren’t completely thrilled with your original one-of-a-kind modern abstract work, no worries... you are NOT obligated to buy… To date, I haven’t had this happen.”

Pam also offers a variety of workshops for anyone interested in expanding their repertoire of media and techniques. She regularly offers a very accessible and fun class in painting with alcohol ink on synthetic paper, and registration is opening soon for her Textured Media Workshop to be offered over four Tuesday evenings in April at the CP Gallery. If you’re intrigued by exploring the exciting, intuitive, creative possibilities of orchestrating chemical reactions and interactions, and experiencing the thrill of going with the flow, consider signing up.

To discover opportunities to enjoy Pam’s energizing art, check out the back of her Artist Trading Card at the top of this page for her coordinates. Better yet, drop in at the Carleton Place Gallery and enjoy a soul-satisfying immersion in wonderful local and regional art.

Artist Trading Card

WHO Pamela Stewart

WHAT Abstract Mixed Media Artist, Co-Owner/Gallerist at Carleton Place Gallery

WHERE Carleton Place Gallery, cpgallery.ca ; paminottawa.com ; @paminottawa on social media; paminottawa@gmail.com

WHEN Until March 9, “I Am Beautiful” Show, The Art Factory, Renfrew; Month of March, Solo Show at Irene’s Pub, Ottawa; May 4 & 5, Arts Carleton Place Spring Juried Art Show, Carleton Place Arena

WHY “My art is my conscious catharsis in a complex world, and a way to be present and engage all my senses.”