Paula Weech Works

Paula always been drawn to creativity. She lived her early years in Niagara Falls where, in third grade, her artwork was displayed in a children’s show at the local art museum.  She later moved on to Illinois where she attended junior and senior high schools during the 1960s. At that time, girls were required to choose between home economics and art.  Paula chose the latter.  Yet what she learned in those early years of art classes does not resonate in her artwork of today. 

Paula was married at age 17, right after high school and did not go on to college. After marrying young and immersing herself in raising three children, her artistic talents lay dormant. She worked in the fields of banking and accounting in the Midwest until 1986. It was then that Paula and her family relocated to Tucson, Arizona where she launched her twenty-three-year career as Director of Operations for a national advertising research company.  Such a career path was a far cry from that of an artist, but she maintained her appreciation and love for art, and a strong desire to express herself artistically. 

In the late 1980s, through a serendipitous encounter, Paula met a gentleman who taught “meditation painting.”  She took a private class from him and realized the act of dripping and throwing the paint onto large canvases was a very liberating experience and began painting occasionally on the weekends to relax and unwind. Eventually she began to experiment with a variety of papers as her base rather than the large canvases with which she began her artistic journey.  Her paintings took on a new life atop fibrous watercolor papers, rice papers, metallic and high gloss paper.

Paula started painting more seriously after retiring from her career and is primarily a self-taught artist. However, she continues educating herself in a variety of art mediums and styles, enrolling in various workshops.  Her exploration of pouring watercolor on yupo encouraged her to let go of control and allow the paint to merge and flow. After attending several mixed media and acrylic workshops she currently enjoys painting on a variety of substrates but primarily paints with acrylics on high quality watercolor paper.

Her colors are rarely chosen before the start of a painting, as she allows her prevailing mood to dictate her palette. She doesn’t set out to paint about one subject or another. Having spent many years analyzing data, Paula enjoys painting abstractly because it is exciting to watch the painting evolve and it encourages spontaneity. She believes painting with abandon uplifts her soul and spirit.

Paula is a Signature Member of Contemporary Artists Southern Arizona, member of the Tubac Center of the Arts and is a Saguaro Fellow and Signature Member of the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild. While she continues to submit her work for local and national juried shows, Paula’s work is consistently exhibited at the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild Gallery and Light Space Time online gallery. 

Please contact Paula at pjweech@cox.net for more information about her work and upcoming showings.