Featured Artist Paula Borsetti

Enjoy the charming abstract portfolio of artist Paula Borsetti, who expresses hope and gratitude in her creative work. See more by visiting her website.

 

 

In a friend’s yellow Mustang, we escape to the sea, watercolor lessons with Sr. Vincent de Paul, in full habit on the dunes, a nudge to apply to art school, a letter of recommendation, humbleness, humility and confidence. This divine intervention was the stepping stone on my path to becoming an artist.

 

 

Along my journey I have been a bookkeeper, high school art teacher, mom, daughter, sister, wife, friend, nana and perpetual student. All while maintaining my studio practice. A beautifully rich life.

 

 

My studio, a converted garage, is three steps from my back door. In June of 2020, after 26 years of teaching full-time, I switched gears to dive into my painting practice and never looked back. I work in my studio daily and continue to learn and share about the world, my work and myself.

 

 

Much of my work is inspired by the nature of coastal Massachusetts and the Lakes Region of Maine. Working from the landscape is a large part of my practice, where I strive to represent the essence of the moment and the familiar. I find many ideas happily walking the beach at sunrise, documenting my visits with photos and poems.

 

 

In my studio I move easily from abstraction to working intuitively. I am free to let the painting arrive and come to a conclusion in its own time. Often I start with a surface that has been prepped with a color or black, which gives me something to respond to. Music, movement, & materials all lead the way.

 

 

Paintings arrive from daily experience, words, family, friends, things that keep me up at night and things that light me up during the day.

 

 

I love to work in series. Pals is a series exploring the depths of living with a chronic and/or fatal disease. In 2014, a dear friend’s son was diagnosed with ALS at age 26. I have a passionate vision to express the struggle of disease while also creating a sense of hope. The works use some of Bobby’s words, statistics and research as an underpainting that allows the imagery to surface.

 

 

I have been painting primarily in acrylic on birch panels or unstretched linen or canvas to get the results I am after. Working the material, I am able to mix other media, layer, sand, scratch, draw, collage, and keep going. Trowels and silicone scrapers are my brushes of choice. Often I am un-painting, throwing in everything then scaling back, covering, excavating. Creating a rich surface to echo life.

 

 

As I dance the dance in my studio, I am grateful for all that I am able to do. For as long as I can remember my hands have been working, making things. Layering paint, mixing colors, drawing, seeing how paint plays with light, how edges and textures create depth. Through mark making I surround myself with expressions of life. Painting from the inside out to create something that has never before existed and that may resonate with others is truly a blessing.

 

Paula Borsetti invites you to follow her on Instagram. 

 

 

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