Adrienne Pasley does not hesitate to acknowledge that God drew her to the Delta to find herself. She points to the art on her studio/office walls and says, “I was sitting in here one day working, not long after I moved. I thought to myself, ‘My walls are bare, I need some art.'” She pauses. “And then I realized that I had lots of art stashed in my garage. My art.” She falls silent. That she struggles not to cry becomes evident. But then, she smiles.
Born and raised in Daley City, Pasley spent most of her life in San Francisco. Like many artists, she mentions that she liked art and creative writing in high school, but married young and started raising her family. “I forgot myself as an artist,” she admits. Married young, she also divorced young, and then most of her time and energy needed to be given to raising and supporting her three sons. Along the way, she got lost in her own lack of faith in her worth. “I never thought that I was good enough, and it showed in everything I did and in all my relationships.”
She started painting again after her divorce. At one point, she moved to Antioch. She painted off and on, but mostly pursued her career with the Veteran’s Administration and struggled to understand what she should be doing with herself. One day, she and a friend drove to Sacramento and happened to notice the Trilogy model home. They told each other that they would check on the way back and if it was still open, take a look. Pasley liked what she saw.
“But it was my granddaughter who convinced me,” she said, with a lovely laugh. “She said, ‘Granny, you deserve this!'”
When she hauled her paintings out of the garage to decorate her office, something opened inside her. She got rid of the spare bedroom set and put out an easel. She started to paint again.
Then one day, she happened to be walking down Main Street in Rio Vista, and saw the Rio Vision gallery. She told herself she would just go into the place and check it out. Now her paintings hang there. Another pause; another brief struggle with emotion. “I was led there. I’ve been led to everything that I’ve found on this journey.”
Pasley does abstracts in acrylic on canvas. She has participated in one show with the Trilogy Art Guild and in the brief time that she’s been painting again, has sold three pieces. She paints what she feels, putting her emotion onto the canvas. She hopes that she can give people a piece of herself, and that in viewing her work, “they will feel something too”. Her work has motion, and a certain vibrancy that speaks volumes just in one viewing. The evolution of her life can be seen on her walls, from a time when she put hesitant lines on the canvas, evocative of her school years; to the bold fluidity of the more current pieces.
She considers herself a work in progress. She feels that she is being guided back to herself; that everything which she has recently experienced flows from her openness to what has been offered. “Some people appreciate what I’m doing, and connect with what I paint,” she comments. “I feel as though I’m receiving a message, and the message is that I should believe in myself.”
A vision board in her private space contains her goals for the next five years. As an artist, Pasley wants “to be known, even if just in the Delta”. She feels at home here, and it shows, in the boldness of her work; the warm, inviting decor of her eclectic home; and the broad smile with which she greets visitors. If art is the vehicle to draw Adrienne Pasley to herself, then it is a good, reliable vehicle; and her journey has taken an amazing and joyful turn.
Editor’s Note: On 13 July 2019, twenty Delta-based artists will participate in a group show at Park Delta Bay in the Community Room and under the big tent. We will be featuring profiles of some of the participating artists, of which the following are two. We hope this introduction will inspire you to come see all of the art on display and to explore the work being shown.
