• “Femininity in Circles”

  16 x 20" Acrylic on Canvas

• “Me in my studio”
• “Suffragette”

  10" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas

• “A Change of Scenery”

  12 x 12" Acrylic on Canvas

• “Trying Hard to Change”

  12 x 12" Acrylic on Panel

• “Fortitude”

  8 x 10" Acrylic on Canvas

• “2018 Abstract Landscape”

  This was a study for a series of abstract landscapes created in 2018

• “My Latest Acrylic”

  I am very proud of this recent piece. It is a landscape abstraction on archival board. The color and texture is stunning.

artist bio

Paula DeStefanis works between acrylic and oil painting. She draws from her daily experiences, beginning each canvas as written journal. DeStefanis is a Milwaukee-based artist, who holds a BFA from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and following course work with the Museum School in Boston. A practicing artist for 30 years.

Her work is in private collections world wide. In addition her work can be found in many corporate collections including; Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Thorsen School, Richards School. Select exhibitions include: Museum of Wisconsin Art; Milwaukee Art Museum, Tory Folliard Gallery, The Arts Mill, The Brickton Art Center, Wustum Art Museum, WI Lutheran College.

DeStefanis is also active in the local arts community through her work with North Shore Academy of the Arts and the Arts Mill where she is the Director. She has taught as the Milwaukee Art Museum, West Bend Art Museum, MIAD and the Wustum. She was recently awarded her second Mary Nohl Suitcase Award, which will allow her to exhibit in the UK in August 2017.  In 2010 she was elected to a 3-year appointment to the Village of Grafton Arts Board. In 2012 she was the recipient of a Mary Nohl Suitcase Award, with those funds she was able to travel to New York and exhibit her work in New York. In 2012 she exhibited in London.

You can view her art at: www.paulaspalette.me

artist statement

I am currently focused on Abstraction.  I work in both acrylic and oils.  I work by doing a series of paintings with the same concept running through each piece. This allows me to explore approaches in the work. I use repetition and layering to symbolize time, duration and change. As the artist making the work, the unpredictability and potential sense of discovery is very exciting and one of the main reasons why I do what I do.

I love the physical process of applying paint to canvas. There is a real sense of freedom in allowing a spontaneous application of color and line to the prepared surface. There is energy in my painting that works towards connecting my spiritual as well as my emotional being.

I have always subscribed to the theory of “paint for paint’s sake” by celebrating the physical qualities of the medium while including the images or textures that move me. My goal is to create stunning pieces of art that will engage the viewer and foster a dialogue that is invigorating, educational and rewarding.

Paula DeStefanis 2020

proficiencies