Pam Tarbell doesn’t remember how old she was when she first discovered her passion for art. Well, unless you’re willing to give her a pass on specifics in terms of dates and ages.
“(It’s been) ever since I was a wee little kid,” Tarbell said.
No longer wee, Tarbell has pieced together a long and fulfilling art career and now runs the Mill Brook Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Concord. The gallery takes up much of her time between April and January, but she uses the winters – when the gallery is closed – to continue painting and this year whipped up a piece to donate to the Friends Program Auction for at least the fifth time, she said.
Her contribution is actually an update of one of her own original works that she wasn’t entirely happy with the first time around.
“I did the original painting a couple of years ago, but I didn’t like it so I repainted it this winter,” Tarbell said.
That tendency to tinker has played a big role in Tarbell’s art career. Though she describes herself as an oil painter, she’s dabbled in numerous other styles, even adding effects to some of her paintings to emulate the characteristics in the sculptures that dot the gallery’s lawn every year.
“I’ve cut reliefs or cut through or added leather or different things to my paintings,” Tarbell said. “I do a lot of different things because I like to challenge myself.”
Tarbell is also always on the lookout for inspiration, be it a scene to paint or a technique with which to paint it. When she’s not at Mill Brook, she spends her time exploring other galleries and showcases, she said, because you never know when you might stumble upon something magical.
“I’m always looking for new things that are exciting, new ways of doing things,” Tarbell said. “When I get out of here, I end up going to galleries or museums or looking at art just to look at how things are done all the time. You feel refreshed, and it’s really important to see what’s going on in the world. It seems like a lot of people don’t look as much as they should. It’s important to keep looking and keep your mind open and be stimulated.”
Tarbell isn’t one to keep that hunger to stimulate the senses to herself, either. She spent several years teaching art in public school and offered an after-school course at Mill Brook for 10 years. Short on role models growing up, Tarbell set out to make sure those who came after her wouldn’t encounter the same scenario.
“I grew up in Rhode Island and had the same art teacher from kindergarten through high school, and I guess that was my inspiration to become an art teacher along the way, because that’s the only role model I had,” Tarbell said. “Even when I got to Rhode Island School of Design, there weren’t any women in art history at that time, it was very limited, so I didn’t have any (other) role models.”
Now she’s doing her best to be one through the Friends Program. And though time constraints of the gallery keep her from becoming a full-time mentor, she is happy to contribute art work to the local cause.
“It’s such a good program. They do amazing things for people, and the mentoring program is totally outstanding, which I think is the highlight,” Tarbell said. “I wish I had time to participate, but I think I’m donating in this way (instead).”
