‘Altered’ artist compelled to create
Just inside the front door of Paula Owens’ Valley home is a large planter filled with fresh herbs. Owens rubs the foliage with her hands for the fresh scent and she cooks with it year round. A large gnarled tree branch is painted and affixed to the wall behind the couch. A lampshade is painted and mixed media creations adorn the walls.
Owens is a self proclaimed junk artist. “But I think the correct word is ‘altered’ artist. I pick up all kinds of stuff and put them together into a piece of art,” she said. As Owens leads a visitor in the direction of her studio, her husband Scott Owens might joke about the destination. “Studio? The whole house is a studio.”
Owens, 56, has spent her life creating things, from drawing since before she can remember, to building things and tearing them apart. By seventh grade she was a master seamstress and by the time she graduated from high school, she had two years of vocational drafting under her belt.
She spent the next 20 years doing drafting and design work, studying art all the while in many mediums. When Owens’ son was born she became a stay-at-home mom and she started making art at the kitchen counter.
When Owens’ son went into the service out of high school, she began to spread out, eventually turning his bedroom into her studio where a multitude of tools and half-completed pieces lay in wait. Her media include papier mâché, fiber art, photography, portraits and mixed media paintings. A collection of rusted metals are in a queue to be fashioned into something and handmade cards wait to be sent.
A trip to the San Francisco Art Museum sparked her interest in abstract art. “I worked to understand it,” she said. “If you don’t have a good background in color theory then things look muddy with no color bounce.” She continued to study until she sufficiently mastered the style.
Her abstract pieces are balanced and “tilt-the-head” curiosities. Some are three-dimensional with the use of paper or found objects. One recent series was created by using foam insulation. “My son made a volcano once for a school project. The medium he used was left around for years. When I ran across it, it began to ooze and ooze.” The oozes inspired her to work with foam insulation which she learned to mold into organic shapes on canvas.
Owens is a prolific assembler. She sees designs everywhere she looks, from a tree to ants clumped together and spindling out. “I have at least 20 to 30 designs and ideas that go through my head each day. I go to bed thinking and wake up thinking about designs.” Her final pieces reflect that thoughtfulness, lending structure and meaning to the chaos.
When she isn’t creating art, she is running her own business of helping save people’s homes from foreclosure. After all, everyone should have a place in which to create. “I have to create. I’m not sure where it comes from but I’m sure it comes from something greater than me. I’m just a conduit.”