Pearl is an award-winning studio and plein air painter from Midlothian, Virginia. She began her career in art 10 years ago while she was training to become an emergency physician and continues to practice medicine. At the same time, she has known since she was a child that art was her true passion and calling and that she would always circle back to it and find it again. She cites her father’s passing from a rare cancer in her mid-20’s as the catalyst for pursuing her childhood dream.

What she enjoys most is the process of finding her painting – in the relationships between shapes and within the character of the light. She loves the raw expression that is borne from painting in true light. It celebrates what is imperfect in nature and allows us not only to render but also to express creatively the true nature and essence of a scene, with the goal of achieving depth and liveliness without the lonely burden of “correctness.” Often it is an imperfect stroke, an imperfect shape, or a key that does not conform to our traditional notions of representation that draws us into a painting. These are the elements that make us look at a painting more closely or return to it again.

Each time the brush is in hand, the possibilities are infinite and exciting. She enjoys bringing what she learns en plein air back into the studio, and believes that the key to producing art that is interesting is to experiment as much as possible. Her medium of choice is oils.

Pearl follows in the tradition of impressionists before her and her mentors over the years have included Robin Caspari, Alison Menke, Derek Penix, and Kim English. She is an Associate Member of the American Impressionist Society and continues to paint at juried plein air competitions along the east coast. Her work can be viewed at Crossroads Art Center in Richmond, Virginia, and at Collectors Gallery in Midlothian, Virginia.

Plein Air Events
November 2022 – Plein Air Brandywine Valley, Brandywine DE (juried)
September 2022 – Suffolk Plein Air, Suffolk VA (juried) / Honorable Mention
June 2022 – Paint It! Ellicott City, Ellicott City MD (juried) / Gino Award (First Place)
April 2022 – Coastal Virginia Plein Air, Norfolk VA (juried)
October 2021 – Tidelands Plein Air, Tappahannock VA
September 2021 – Suffolk Plein Air, Suffolk VA (juried) / Third Place at QuickDraw

Additional Exhibitions
“New Arrivals,” group show at Liberty Town Arts, Fredericksburg VA, February 2022
Crossroads Art Center All-Media Show (juried), Richmond VA, November 2021
Crossroads Art Center All-Media Show (juried), Richmond VA, September 2011