GreerNow MARCH 2009 37

ARTS & EDUCATION

Painting with Pam

written by SHERIL BENNETT TURNER

& photographed by ELIZABETH MORRISEY

As a small child, Spartanburg native Pam Dangelo would sit for hours drawing her brothers and sisters as they watched television. Then, when

she was in the 3rd grade, Pam’s father gave her five tubes of Grumbacher oil paint, not knowing that this simple gift would inspire his little girl to become an accomplished oil painter. Self-taught, Pam has traveled all over the country and parts of the world in a dream job with world-renown

AT THE WOMAN’S CLUB

painter of light, Thomas Kinkade, and currently has her own art gallery and studio near Greer, a hang-out for local artists. “With those first tubes of paint, I learned how to mix colors,” Pam says. “I remember one time when I was in high school, I had to turn an art project in for French class, and I waited until the last moment. It was Sunday night and the project was due the next day on Monday. I told my father I needed some construction paper; it had to be painted on construction paper. The only thing open that time of night was a drug store, so he went there and he came back with a black piece of construction paper. He said, ‘That’s what you get, young lady, for waiting until the last minute,’ Pam laughs. “So I sat on the floor and painted a French village at night, with the streets looking wet, the lights on in the buildings. The next day I took it to school still wet. The teacher hung everyone’s up, but I didn’t see mine. I was thinking, I’m going to get an F. I kept looking for it for a few days, but I never saw it. At the end of the year, when they had the award ceremony, they called my name out. I had won first place in the state, for an art contest my teacher had entered my painting in.” For the next 20-some-odd years, Pam did not pick up a brush as she busied herself with marriage, children, and work. “I had a career in banking with First Union for about 22 years,” Pam says. “Then my husband’s job transferred us to Tennessee and I transferred with First Union. When we returned to this area, there were no more First Unions, so my husband, Bob, said ‘Why don’t you just stay home and do what you want.’” And what Pam wanted to do was paint again. “I painted all my neighbor’s kids,” Pam says. “They’d play in my yard and I’d sit there and sketch them, then paint portraits of them. That’s how I got back into it.” When someone saw one of these paintings at a neighbor’s home,

ARTS & EDUCATION

38 GreerNow MARCH 2009

ARTS & EDUCATION

Pam was asked if she would donate a custom painting to an Easter Seals auction. The winning bidder asked Pam to paint his daughter on a carousel. “Then,” says Pam, “the owner of the Thomas Kinkade Gallery in Haywood Mall saw that portrait somewhere, and I got a call from a woman from the Thomas Kinkade headquarters in California. She said that she would love to see my portfolio. Well I didn’t have a portfolio, but I went to all my neighbor’s houses, my mother’s—anyone who I had painted for— and I took photos and overnighted them to her. She called me back and said that they were looking for a master highlighter for Thomas Kinkade. Was I Interested? Honestly, I had never taken art classes, so I had no idea what a master highlighter even was. She had to explain it to me.” Because there is only one Thomas Kinkade and over 500 of his galleries, master highlighters serve in his place as ambassadors. They are specially trained in his studio, using his paintings, to hand highlight with oil paint his prints when customers purchase them at galleries all over the world. When Pam was chosen for the job, there were only 12 master highlighters in all.

“When I got the job, I really didn’t expect it.” Pam admits. “They sent me papers that asked me all kinds of art questions, and I just said what I thought. I learned a lot during that time, especially from Thom. I traveled to every state in the United States, plus England and Scotland and I met so many nice people and other artists. When someone bought a print, I would even let them paint a bit on their print, then I would take a picture of them for my photo album. The next time I visited that gallery, the same people would look for their pictures, and usually buy another print. The galleries loved that, so I was booked a lot.” Pam became so popular, in fact, she was booked almost every weekend of the year.

“The weekends were two days travel time, too,” says Pam. “Sometimes I’d come home, and in an hour have to turn around for the airport again. It was hard. Finally, my husband said to me, ‘You know, I think I’ve had enough, you need to stop.’ So I did.” Now Pam and her husband work side by side— Bob as a mortgage banker on one side of an office building that he purchased—Pam on the other with her studio and gallery. “When I opened, I really thought I’d be the only one painting here,” Pam says. “Then I met Donna (Donna Traynham, a local artist). We were sharing a space at a festival in downtown Greer, and I invited Donna to come in and paint with me. She was working on a portrait and I was helping her with it. Then Donna brought in all the girls she was taking classes with around town. She wanted to know if I’d teach them, because their art teacher had moved. It’s been great ever since. Some of the artists rent studio space here; I give them a key so that they can come in anytime

and paint. There is always someone here painting. One lady calls it “The Woman’s Club” because we also hang out and do jigsaw puzzles together, go out to eat or

GreerNow MARCH 2009 39

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bring in a dish. But we do have a couple of guys who sometimes join us. If people want to come in and just paint, we love that too. We’ve even met people in restaurants, and invited them to come in and watch us paint. Periodically,

we have gallery showings where we sell a lot of our work.” Pam’s oil paintings are much in demand and for good reason. Vibrant, rich, and filled with the same light that has made Thomas Kinkade’s work so popular, Pam’s paintings seem to jump off the

canvas at you. Although she paints a variety of subjects, Pam says her favorite is portraits of people. “It’s the hardest, a challenge, but that’s what’s fun to me, trying to get a likeness. Before I paint someone I don’t know, I like to spend a little time with them and get to know their personality. The longer you’re looking at them and you’re around them, when they laugh and when they talk, then when you’re painting them and you get that likeness you know it. The more practice you get, the easier it is, but it’s still always a challenge.” Along with her numerous commissioned pieces, Pam is currently working on a surprise gift for Joe Ventura. “Joe is one of the nicest persons I know,” she says. “He is the owner of Della Ventura Pizzeria, the best New York style pizza around. They are moving the restaurant and I’m surprising him with his portrait for the new place.” Pam says she also has an affinity for painting birds, as well as for the real thing. While the gang is painting, her African Grey Parrot, Louie, sits near-by and entertains the artists with renditions of the Mayberry theme song and an assortment of animal sounds he picked up from television. There is certainly never a dull moment at The Woman’s Club. d

Dangelo Art Studio is located at 62 St. Mark Road in Taylors.For more information, please call Pam Dangelo at (864) 414-5523.