We were lucky to catch up with Pamela Caughey recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Pamela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I always loved art as a child. I have vivid memories from Kindergarten onward how I couldn’t wait to get to art class and create. This feeling followed me through the end of high school; I yearned for the art class over chemistry, math, biology, etc! However, when it came time to make the “Big decision” on a career path, my parents (and relatives) made it clear I should pursue a career first, rather than my art “hobby”. Being a people “pleaser”, I decided to pursue biochemistry as I was good at academics and thought it would be a great challenge. Most of all, it impressed my parents which was so important to me at the time.
About 3 years into the rigorous and competitive biochemistry program, I started to have tremendous anxiety and in my 3rd year, after attending a scientific symposium with highly competitive grad students (I was still an undergrad in biochemistry), I was given improper credit for a small project I had worked on over the summer. The more deserving grad students were livid and I could feel their anger and hatred pointed toward me; it was in the air. At that moment, I now realize the numbness, fear and terror I experienced was PTSD (not well known at the time). This was a turning point that caused a major nervous breakdown. I could no longer walk through a doorway, sit with others while eating, or feel comfortable in a lab. I knew the 4 year degree I had just slaved away toward was useless due to my chronic anxiety and depression. I was no longer there, just a shell of the confident person I was when I began college. The only way out was, as I soon discovered, to return to the art I loved and leave the science behind, forever. It was art that saved me, healed me over 2 decades and helped me “do” what I was meant to do.
Pamela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Q: Tell our readers about yourself, how you got into art and how you latered created your own online Art School?
A: While I was a young Mom, I began to pursue art wholeheartedly. From my early 20’s onward (post BS in Biochemistry), I worked in watercolors which were affordable, and ordered every book I could get to hone my skills as a self-taught artist. I went to as many workshops as possible and became president of the Montana Watercolor Society. I won awards and sold lots of art, but still felt dissatisfied somehow. This perplexed me, and caused me to stop making art for 10 years. After this long artistic drought, I picked up my brushes again, found new momentum by trying acrylic/mixed media, and decided it was time to figure out what was missing. This was the turning point when I decided to go back to art school and try and figure out what was missing. Though I had no intention of ever teaching or getting an MFA, after taking 30 studio credits in sculpture, ceramics, printmaking and drawing, I decided to apply for graduate school. I thought, “Why not?” – not really knowing where this would lead me. I just knew I didn’t want this new journey to end, and it wasn’t until graduate school that I discovered what was missing from my art – it was ME.
I eventually went back to school – this time art school, and got my MFA. I began teaching at the college level, but later launched my own online art school, www.ArtandSuccess.com. Through online courses, I have been able to reach thousands of artists around the world and share my message of healing and hope through painting. My courses are created for all levels of artists and help each individual truly discover their soul, who they are, and paint in a way that truly feels like “them”, ie, they create their most authentic art. This is so gratifying to me!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
The art I had created in the past depicted “pretty” flowers, landscapes and animals that the general public could appreciate and wanted to buy. While this is art the public can appreciate and wants to buy, it leaves a bit of a hollow sense of happiness inside, since it is not art coming from the soul, but rather art that pleases others. This “pretty art” did not align with who I was, who I had become post BS in biochemistry – a broken down soul who had lost their way and lived in fear, anxiety and depression.
My MFA graduate thesis in 2010 largely focused on finding a metaphor that aligned with the fear and anxiety I had experienced. The closest metaphor I could think of was terrorism, which thrives on peoples’ fear. My thesis exhibition was entitled, “Disquietude” (https://pamelacaughey.com/pages/disquietude) and focused on the social, psychological and global ramifications of terrorism, largely based on fear. The work ranged from a large-scale installation of TSA confiscated sharp objects displayed on 7’x13′ panels (entitled, “Homeland Security”) to resin coated large scale photographs of warped x-rays depicting the aftermath of severe heat and distruction. Dangling damaged chromosomes hung from string with light casting ominous shadows. Another large-scale piece, “6.8 Billion”, had fingerprints from many people who volunteered to help me make a piece that represented the world population at the time. This exhibition was a catharsis that helped purge deeply felt emotions out of my system.
The following solo exhibition in 2014 was entitled, “Ubiquitous: Migration of Pathogens” (https://pamelacaughey.com/pages/ubiquitous). It opened at the Missoula Art Museum (Missoula, Montana) right before Ebola broke out in Western Africa . This body of work referenced the ease at which pathogens travel around the globe; the message was there are no more geographical boundaries that limit a pathogen. The exhibit later traveled to the Nicolaysen museum in Casper, Wyoming and Johnson & Johnson (New Jersey). It is now on permanent display at the University of Wisconsin School of Biotechnology and Genetics.
My goal or mission is to help all artists I work with to find their true, authentic voice in art. Through a lot of introspection and deep dives into what creating 2D work entails, my goal is to help creatives fill their toolbox with understanding of the design, color and compositional tools they need so they can continue to reach higher levels of growth over a lifetime. Art is not about the destination, but about the journey, which is subject to change on a daily basis.
I truly hope to help artists align their work with the ups and downs of life, giving them permission to explore new avenues of expression rather than be tied down to one voice, which society and galleries prefer. Breaking down barriers and destroying myths about what an artist “should be” vs what the authentic, creative, explorative and curious artist deep inside “can be” is my most important mission through my online and LIVE instruction.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Looking back, TIME is our most valuable asset. There are so many demands in our lives that tend to make us feel like creativity should come last. As we grow older, we look back and wonder where time has gone. This is when we realize the great vacuum of creativity in our lives.
As a young, self-taught artist, almost all the books I acquired were about “How to paint like this, or that” – so they were about TECHNIQUE. Very few, maybe 3 out of a 100 books, addressed design and color in an in-depth way. For this reason, if I could start all over, I would seek out courses and books that focus mainly on design, color and composition and not technique. The reason I created my school was to give any artist this focus, get on the right track, and SAVE decades of time. I share all of my mistakes that wasted my time and show other artists how they can get to where they wish to go by focusing on what really matters. I feel I have made just about every mistake an artist can make; now it is time to help others skip the time wasting mistakes and get to the point – creating art they love that is authentic!
Contact Info:
- Website: I have two: www.ArtandSuccess.com (teaching website), www.PamelaCaughey.com (personal art website)
- Instagram: @PamelaCaughey
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.a.caughey/
- Linkedin: Requires verification – ie use of Passport – will not comply due to security risks/data breaches
- Twitter: https://x.com/PCaugheyArt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/pamelacaughey
