BoomerGirl Diary

Editor's note: In the third and final part of her creativity series, Karen Roberts introduces you to Pam Rees of Lecompton, Kan., a woman who transformed her empty nest with oil paints and brushes. Rees proves once again that it is never too late to find a new creative path.

When Pam Rees found herself with an empty nest, she was at loose ends. Her youngest son had just graduated from high school, her firefighter husband was gone quite a bit, and she was having a really hard time emotionally. Seeking the help of a counselor, she was encouraged to find a new interest, something “just for her.”

That was about 10 years ago, and she had no idea where starting down this new path would lead.

“I just decided to try it. I started with a Wednesday night class at the North Topeka Community Center,” she said, “and after all these years, I still go there almost every Wednesday to paint.”

Rees says she had long been a “crafty person,” doing watercolor, block printing, stamping, and collage, but that she had always wanted to try painting.

“I love nature,” she said. “I wanted to be able to translate the beauty and serenity that I see in nature into a form that others could see — to enable them to step into my painting, so to speak, and feel what I feel. I didn’t know if I’d really be able to do it, but I wanted to try.”

Rees found she enjoyed painting, and after a few years, she began to network with other artists through two local art guilds. She has been particularly active in the Lawrence, Kan., Art Guild, and is now serving as an officer.

“The Art Guilds provide opportunities to show and sell work, and the people I meet have been so encouraging.” She recalls that her first sale of a painting was at the Lawrence Art Walk (an Art Guild event) about five years ago.

“The first time you put your work out there is a little scary. That’s probably my biggest challenge — self-promotion. You know, we’re all taught not to brag about ourselves, but if you want to show and sell art, you kind of have to.”

Rees finds that taking up painting at an older age has certain freedoms. She is more comfortable painting just what she wants, and doesn’t feel the need to try a lot of different styles.

“There are no ‘shoulds’ for me now. I know what I like, what I want to paint, and I do it. If I never sell any work, that’s ok. This isn’t my living, just something I love."

She works in the local school system in the elementary library full-time, and she hikes frequently on the Konza Prairie, taking along a digital camera to capture scenes to paint them later.

"My love is the prairie, and other Kansas scenery. I remember going to the prairie as a girl and just being in awe of the space, the big sky ... and oh, the flowers!”

The second week in June, she will be the Artist-in-Residence at the Lester Raymer Red Barn Studio and Museum in Lindsborg, Kan. She has been in residency there before.

“It’s so inspiring to work in the studio of such an eclectic artist; it’s a time of uninterrupted creativity. I just paint for the whole week, and people come in and watch and talk to me … it’s a little odd at first. You feel a little self-conscious, but it’s a wonderful week.”

Rees is working on that whole self-promotion thing, too. She is pulling together her portfolio and figuring out ways to showcase her work. She has established studio space in her home in rural Lecompton, Kan., where she is inspired every day by the beauty around her. An avid gardener, she says that her immersion in nature teaches her much about color and mood. She feels blessed to live in the country, so close to the Kansas River, and to have found painting.

“Painting has been such an emotional outlet for me. I really feel like I was guided to it, somehow. It has been everything I was looking for.”