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Ms. Billups studied at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where the program focused on drawing and painting the figure and on learning traditional methods dating back several centuries. Her primary instructors at the academy were Jon de Martin, Dan Gheno, Deane Keller, Michael Peery, and Jerry Weiss. She is represented by Ruggiero Gallery in Madison, Connecticut. Her studio is located in Ivoryton, Connecticut, and she keeps a limited teaching schedule.

Paula's statement of working values:

"My figurative education has grounded me in a rear-guard philosophy of working and method. For me there is no substitute for developing the eye, hand, and heart and training them to be used in concert for the production of excellent work. I love the contemplative process of working in an unhurried and real environment. It is in working primarily from life and taking no shortcuts that we may be privileged to discern -- and hopefully reveal -- Truth.

still life home interior figure portrait about the artist CV contact

Paula Billups About the Artist
	Ms. Billups studied at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where the program focused on drawing and painting the figure and on learning traditional methods dating back several centuries. Her primary instructors at the academy were Jon de Martin, Dan Gheno, Deane Keller, Michael Peery, and Jerry Weiss. She is represented by Ruggiero Gallery in Madison, Connecticut. Her studio is located in Ivoryton, Connecticut, and she keeps a limited teaching schedule. Paula's statement of working values: "My figurative education has grounded me in a rear-guard philosophy of working and method. For me there is no substitute for developing the eye, hand, and heart and training them to be used in concert for the production of excellent work. I love the contemplative process of working in an unhurried and real environment. It is in working primarily from life and taking no shortcuts that we may be privileged to discern -- and hopefully reveal -- Truth.
What I am after is total agreement with the image. I work directly from life and en plein air. When composing a picture I may go through fifteen or twenty sketches to explore the different possibilities before settling on a solution. For long-term goals, I have two: the constant improvement of my skill and receptivity to whatever visual idiom arises, regardless of its place in accepted visual language. " Her influences include Whistler, Velasquez, Rembrandt, Thiebaud, Manet, Degas, Eakins, Zurbaran, Corot, Freud, Kulicke and Morandi, in no particular order. Recent work has featured an increasingly direct vision with regard to portrait: the straightforward compositions allow the viewer the greatest access to the emotional and human content of the piece. With the influence of Thiebaud, Neel, Manet and Velasquez evident, Ms. Billups' current concerns are exclusively to the human subject. Of late, Ms. Billups has also begun exploring the mechanics of visual poetry and the metaphoric possibilities in arrangements of objects in an interior setting. This newest work is the beginning of a progression of many planned paintings. A tonal palette, floodlit space, and the quality of suspended reality informs these interiors. Recent work pays tribute to stability and groundedness, and evinces respect for a meditative atmosphere. The imagery uncovers the presence of life, whether spiritual or corporeal, and the indomitability and immutability of spiritual reality. All work is available for sale unless already sold or collected. Please contact the artist for information about prices and commission work. Welcome and please do enjoy your visit. --- May 2008