Paula Fava
About Me
As a self trained artist ... from a family of creatives ... modern dance was my initial form of creative expression from the age of 5 until 20 under my Mamma’s and Zia’s guidance. At 7, I picked up a camera in the footsteps of my dear Uncle Julius Fava. By the age of 16, my camera had become an important appendage to my anatomy. In my 30’s, along with one of my sisters, I had a small jewelry making business in San Francisco. In 2001, with an on-duty injury from the SFFD, I began to paint at Wild Carrots Artist Workshops. Each of the mediums I work in keeps me on the edge of risk as I transitioned from a career as a San Francisco Firefighter into an artist healer, several years ago.
ART THAT HEALS
Ancient imagery and symbols are used in Fava's art where viewers are whisked into the dynamic and transformative elemental world of nature and self ... healing heartbreak through the pure joy of her visuals. Each piece creates layers of information, and stratums of possibility through every stroke of the brush and swish of her fingers. Fava moves easily between encaustic, acrylic and photographic mediums … often combining several modalities together. Capturing and reflecting light is her passion.
“Layering & subtracting, adding & removing, reveals the hidden facets of our souls, along with all the elements in creation” states Fava. Color and texture inform Fava’s work as she mirrors her infatuation with the natural and supernatural worlds. In her quest to define herself as a healer or an artist, Fava found a balance in the spiritual aspects of the Five Elements after she began studying with a living Saint in Southern India … creating art that heals.
