Hartland Artist's Work on Display Starting Friday

Hartland artist Pamela L. O'Neil says she believes in love and lessons.

“We go through pain, but there's always a purpose," O'Neil said. "I've been through a lot of things in my life, and I work through those things in my paintings.”

O'Neil's latest work, A Kaleidoscope of Abstract Realism: Form, Texture & Emotion on Canvas, will be on display beginning Friday at the Huron Valley Council for the Arts, 205 W. Livingston Rd, in Highland. An opening reception with light refreshments and piano music by Gary Weisenberg is scheduled from 7-9 p.m.

The exhibit and sale will feature 20 original paintings as well as prints and free verse poetry and will run through Aug. 27. All but one of the paintings will be for sale. O'Neil will keep “Utopia,” a treasured painting dedicated to her grandchildren.

O'Neil, who attended school for fashion merchandising and interior design, has been painting for more than 30 years. Noting its spiritual undertones, O'Neil described her work as abstract realism.

“There isn't such a thing, but I've never seen things the way people do normally,” O'Neil said. “I paint my feelings and what comes to me in dreams.”

In addition to emotion, the paintings in the exhibit highlight O'Neil's appreciation for color, form, and texture. Their scale — many are 48 x 48 — represent a new direction in O'Neil's work.

“Because I tend to be very philosophical at times, I can express myself better in a larger space,” she said.

O'Neil also employed art as a means to cope with the recent deaths of her parents, who died six months apart. After their deaths, O'Neil began to volunteer at senior centers in Hartland, Howell, and Pinckney, where she continues to teach arts and crafts on a regular basis.

“The seniors are fun. I love life, and I try to be kind to everyone,” O'Neil said. “I'm very thankful for the life God has given me.”

In addition to painting, O'Neil owns and operates an interior design studio. She has clientele all over the country with a concentration of regular clients in the Detroit suburbs. O'Neil and her husband, who is in the construction business, produce a line of rustic mirrors, some of which will be for sale at the HVCA exhibit.

O'Neil's stays busy with her interior design business and painting, but she still found time to coordinate the Fine Arts & Wares Show, which take place on Aug. 20-21 during the Howell Melon Festival.

“It's been a great fit. I love what I'm doing,” O'Neil said.

Amped up from previous years, the show will feature more than 60 juried artists. In addition to local artists, the Fine Arts & Wares Shows will host artists from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The artist whose piece wins Best in Show will receive a basket of gifts donated by area businesses, and monetary prizes will be awarded to the first, second, and third place winners.

O'Neil, who has already signed on to coordinate next year's show, said she plans to double the size of the event in 2012.

She also has two upcoming one-woman shows. The first, titled Pain and Purpose, will take place in January at the Shiawassee Arts Council in Owosso, O'Neil's hometown. The second is slated for May and June and will be hosted by the Flint Institute of Arts.

“I'm proud, but I'm also very humble,” O'Neil said. “Art is a gift God has given me.”