Queenie

911 - 22" X 28" $100.00

The 10^th floor apartment of artist Pam Cole aka Queenie is artfully cluttered with her works of mixed media. Well-blended into the room is the aroma of ginger-brewed green tea and incense, which wafts out her balcony window into a gapping South-by-Southeast panoramic view of Philadelphia.

Originally, from Connecticut, Queenie, 56, has been living and growing as an artist in Philly for the past ten years. The dream of sharing her artistic talents to the masses is in the making and in retrospect; is the freshly chosen path for which she has been working and waiting all along.

“My real memories of art don’t really exist before I was in Philadelphia,” she says, recalling how quickly she meshed with the University of the Arts. However, the proverbial ladder Pam had to climb was quite different than most. “It started as a hobby, not really knowing the word ‘art.’ Then, the hobby turned into my life’s work, my life’s focus. I live, eat and breathe art. Everything in my life is surrounded by art.”

Immersed the old-fashioned way—by osmosis—Cole started as a sketch model and eagerly soaked up her art-savvy environment. She interacted with a range of mediums, styles and, most importantly, artists who nurtured her attentive eyes and ears. Cole’s underlying skills as an artist developed rapidly among the city’s friendly and festive arts scene.

“I feel like I’ve been in Art College for the last six years, and there’s a definite feeling of satisfaction and achievement in my life right now,” she says. “Sort of like, ‘You’ve come a long way, baby,’—and I’ve come a long way, baby. Now, I want as many people as possible to have and see and own art.”

“I never gave it a second thought and just went straight to the spray can,” she says. “My art is mostly mixed-media—paper, collage, found objects—but I put it together in a memorable way that sticks in the mind. People are able to pick out my art. I do not need a signature. That’s the whole idea of being unique.”

Queenie’s most extensive group of work, “Journey to Innerpeace,” is an emotionally filled collection of color, line, shape and mood. Created mostly with spray-paint and stencils, it tends to grow on the viewer as the nuances of detail are unveiled.

“Whatever emotion you feel when you see my work, know you are not the only one,” she says. “Passion, reaching, bobbing-and-weaving, lost, torn, bliss, burning-love, truly inspired—all those things are feelings of life. And I want you, the viewer, to know I’ve felt that, too, and you’re not alone in this world.”

“I make my art from my gut, from my spirit, from whatever life’s journey I’m on that day—the work comes from that,” she said. “Every day is a challenge, but I like the idea of being different—everybody’s on the left and I’m on the right, or I’m on the right and everyone else is on the left. I like to put together colors people do not usually use.

Possibility is at the forefront and I want to share in the dream of fostering others.”

Queenie’s fully interactive website, is her latest work-in-progress. Scheduled to be running in 2008, her website will allow viewers to look through artwork, create greeting cards, and basically stay updated as she continues her journey.

In August ’06, Pam had an opening at The Plastic Club on Camac St., which featured works of Pam Cole as a sketch model. Instead of creating art, Philadelphia artists use Cole as the subject of art for others to interpret. Since Cole started modeling at The Plastic Club, this show is a nostalgic one. It is where her knowledge of art and the art world was born.

Cole also works as an image consultant and is working toward financial independence in hopes to open a studio or gallery, where the masses can come to share, show and discuss art as planned.