Judith Pafford — Gin and Eddy — ArtCentre of Plano

2025, Photography, 24x20x1 in. Along my journey to find my artistic style, my style has found me. As I work with color, value, shape, and other the elements of design, I go back again and again to abstraction and impressionist figurative works that tell a story. When I give in to the random impulse to paint a landscape or building, I must suggest some figures in it. Why resist? My style seems to have found me in my 14th year as an artist I work in many mediums although watercolor continues to be my favorite and the hardest to master. I love the way the paint moves and creates its own consciousness if I just get out of its way. I return to acrylic, mixed media, and oil and cold wax when I need to feel more in control; but no matter the medium, I’m drawn to color, value, and shape as the main elements of my designs. I begin a painting by deciding whether it will depict an abstraction of something from my reality or nothing real at all. I select a basic color palette, what design elements I want to emphasize, and if I am disciplined that day, I do a value study or small sketch before touching a large sheet of watercolor paper or canvas. My goal is to make a viewer of my work want to stay a while to let their eyes wander around in it and walk away feeling some emotion. Does the riotous color and random mark making elicit joy? Or does the soft flowing color and smooth, broad shapes bring a sense of calm? Or does the interaction of the figures suggest a moment in time in their story together? Along the way, I’ve discovered that some of photographs I’ve taken to use as reference materials often look like abstract paintings themselves. I’ve begun to form the work of art itself in the shapes of shadows, edges of objects, and blended colors, sometimes needing a bit of editing. This is an exciting new direction for me and will require some exploration into better tools and training to use them.