Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Pamela Strautman graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in art focused primarily in the areas of art history, fiber arts, and ceramics.

A move to southern California in 1976 led to a whole other career first in mortgage lending and then in creating, improving, and maintaining affordable housing with a local city. After a few years in Santa Barbara, she landed in Santa Paula in 1980 where she raised a family and happily resides to this day.

After retiring, she got involved as a docent with the Santa Paula Art Museum and, as a result of spending more time around art and artists, she began to wonder if any spark of her own long dormant creativity could be revived.

In 2017, she took up pastel painting under the guidance of noted Ojai pastel artists, Jannene Behl and Bert Collins. A lifelong doodler of people and animals, she quickly fell in love with the lush pure colors of soft pastels and the tactile contrast of velvety pigment applied to a rough painting surface. For the past couple of years, she has focused on painting larger pieces with acrylics. Although landscapes and animals are her most typical subjects, she has recently been experimenting with still life and the human figure as well. She exhibits her work in the Charles Lo Bue Gallery in Carpinteria, and in the Santa Paula area at the Santa Paula Art Museum and the annual Santa Paula Society of the Arts show. She also shows work as a member of the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast (“PSGC”) and the Ventura County Creative Artists (“VCCA”).

Follow her on Instagram @lublockers to see more examples of her work in pastels and acrylics!