Pamela
Wachtler

The complexities of our world are so often disquieting, however the beauty of the landscape endures if we take the time to pause and look. Composed from on site watercolor sketches, drawings combined with memories, imagination and wishful thinking, my paintings and monotypes are a vision of how I see the landscape as I attempt to capture the essence of light and create a work of warmth and spirit.

"How empty learning
And how vain is art
But as it mends the life
And guides the heart."

Pamela Wachtler received a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia and trained at the Cape Cod School of Art. She moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1977, and for 25 years worked as a commercial interior architecture designer and illustrator — taking on commissioned paintings for interior designers and architects in Washington DC and Seattle — before turning full-time to fine art. Her subject became the natural world of Bainbridge Island: its birds, marshes, harbor light, majestic trees, and the specific quality of its overcast, silvery skies. She was inspired by the Philadelphia Ten, a group of women artists affiliated with Moore College who exhibited together from 1917 to 1945.

My hope would be that by sharing my art others would not only feel peaceful gazing upon the work, perhaps evoking a happy memory, but also be encouraged to become more caring for our one and only earth. To paraphrase William Hurley: a person who creates art must be able to distill an image that will create an instant response from the viewer, carrying the feeling in the heart so that the technical ability and the emotion together create the illusion for the viewer. A successful work of art can be an enrichment to all who see it, repeating its gift each time we care to look.

Early on I made a conscious choice to portray through my art the beauty and hope that I find in nature. My goal is to provide a moment of respite from the chaos of our complex world. Like planting trees before you die, I wish to leave a legacy of the magical places here — the majestic trees, serene harbors, and the habitat of creatures we seldom see.