During the lockdown of 2020, I was fortunate to have a favorite model of mine agree to meet with me for private sessions in my home studio. 

We both agree to mask up and make the best of this bad situation. 

These sessions where a jumping off point for me to explore my frustrations with the lockdown, and the social upheaval I was witnessing all around me. It was a miserable time on this planet, in this country and for humanity.

Saint Corona Quarantina - 30x40 oil 2020. 

Explores the frustration of confinement and the civil unrest that ensued in many of our cities.

Resurrect Us Infect Us - 30x40 oil 2020

Explores the contagious nature of this virus. The viewer is being offered what at first glance looks appealing, but with careful observation something more sinister is being offered. Our human nature is being tested and resistance is our only salvation.

Included in this portfolio are portraits created during the global pandemic that began in January of 2020.
The lock down within the U.S. began in March of 2020. Sending us all into quarantine for an undertmined amount of time. In an effort to releave anxiety, not only for myself, but for others, I launched an interactive portrait project called, Quarantine 2020. 

 I reached out through social media and asked the public to submit photos of themselves for a series of portraits paintings. It was free to submit photos and no obligation to purchase finished work. My goal was simply to keep my mind focused on art, and to releave a little of  our collective anxiety.  I created timelapse videos as I painted, and shared my process to further engage dialogue. At a time that is was difficult to focus on anything but the pandemic, I chose to paint anyone willing to send me their photos. 

Quarantine 2020 is a series of portraits created from client supplied photos. I approached this project with an open mind and little restriction of what I would agree to paint. Many of the images I received where of masked individuals, many of the images where also of favorite family pets. I recieved submissions from as far as California and as close as my own neighborhood. We all had one thing in common, quarantine. 

In all, sixteen 12x12 oil portraits where created as part of  the  Quarantine 2020 project. 

Epic Eyes 2021 is a series of 4x8 oil paintings of only eyes. Thirty- six paintings are included in this series. 

In early 2021 and still dealing with the isolation of the pandemic, I again invited the public to send me pictures of only their eyes. Having spent over a year masked with only our eyes revealed,  I set out to try and understand the subtle language of eye contact.

I discovered that without the support of other facial features, it easy to misintrepret emotions and intentions. 

I later went onto use eight pairs of the eyes from this project to create a interactive piece called Eyes Without a Face , includes a 4x8 mirror, thus allowing the viewer to become part of the piece. 

Portraits from Havre De Grace is a twelve-month long, community based portrait project, created by artist Pamela Wilde. Beginning on January 26, 2018 and concluding on January 25, 2019 members of the community are invited to be painted in a live alla prima portrait session. It is anticipated that over 100 portraits will be included in the opening exhibition scheduled for March 16, 2019 at Artists Emporium 220 N Washington Street Havre De Grace, MD. 
In an effort to connect with community artist Pamela Wilde works publicly in the front window studio space at Artists Emporium offering the public the oppertunity to witness her process. It is the artists intent to not only create a likeness of her subjects but to also further inspire the community to their own creative potential. This project has created a conversation not only about art and process but also about the roll we all play in building a strong community. 
To add your face to this project please follow the link to sign up.  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f054faeaa2ea5fd0-model

These time-lapse videos are of the live alla-prima portrait sessions of Portraits From Havre De Grace. These sessions are 3 hours and children's sessions are shorter at 1.5 to 2 hours.

I documented nearly all of the 119 portrait sessions with a time-lapse video. I felt it was important to document these sessions for several reasons. 

I believe there is something to be learned from watching an artist process. It has taken me decades to get to a point that I feel I have something solid to share. But that being said process is always changing and to be an artist is to change and to grow. 

In comparing videos you can se subtle changes in my approach. There are days where I experiment sometimes successfully sometimes not. There can be no success without failure so never be afraid to fail, it's just part of the process. 

This twelve month long project of 12x12 alla-prima portraits forced me to focus on the same problems over and over but with a different model each time. There where so many challenges besides the obvious. 

"Eat more Cake" is the result of my love hate relationship with food. The creations of these works required a level of self disapline not ussually required. I worked alone in my studio with the sweet smell of confectionary deights tempting me from the start. 
Inspired by the works of  Wayne Thebaud, I explored the the visual playfulness of color, composition, pattern and the human emotion food can evoke. 

I have set forth in 2019 to create large figurative works in live model sessions. In this process I have the freedom to set the stage and explore themes using props and models. Inspired by the figurative works of great artists of the past, I am attempting to explore the figure in it's enviroment and trying to engage the viewer to create their own narative from what I have presented.

In 2014 I spent a year painting portraits of friends and family. I has always been my ambition to be a portrait painter and I give myself challenges to improve my skills.
These paintings where all created from reference photos I took on my subjects. Working from photos I believe is more difficult than working from life but I also know that getting portrait commissions would entail me working from reference. This was my effort to find a way to work without the live sittings. It was an interesting experiment and I learned allot.