Send a little happy

Art is like an onion, or so thinks Trussville mixed media artist Pam Truitt. 

“I always think — when you meet someone, you’re just seeing their outer shell,” she said. “It’s like an onion — you have to peel away the layers. Art is like that. One day you see one thing in my art, and another day you will see something else.” 

She and her husband, Eric Truitt, are permanent fixtures at Alabama Art Supply in Birmingham, where Truitt has worked for 36 years. He works in the accounting sector and she handles the educational part — working with high schools in three counties — as wellas purchasing and networking withlocal artists. 

“It’s a full-time job,” she said. “There’s no way I could be an artist full time. It wouldn’t work.”

Self-taught, a lover of collage art and acrylic paint, Truitt said she has always dabbled in various types of art dating back to her high school days. 

“But now, that part of the collage in the art has to come in for me,” she said. “Sometimes it’s paper; sometimes it’s pen and ink. And I choose acrylic because I’m impatient, and it dries fast.” 

Since her children are grown, she’s downsized to her current studio in her Trussville home, where her table doubles as a workstation, with flat-file storage underneath and a dining table when family comes together. Artwork by her mentors dots her walls, and it doesn’t stop there. 

“There’s a story behind every piece of art and every plant in my yard,” she said. “That’s why I can’t move.”

One recent favorite project was born from a difficult time in her life when Truitt’s mother had an extended hospital stay. Her “She Is” series was createdin honor of all the women who have crossed her path, and it is based onProverbs 31:25. 

“It was jolting for me,” she said. “And that verse — ‘She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughswithout fear of the future’ — is allabout that.” 

She hasn’t produced much work since that point, she said, but is now in her season for rest and rejuvenation.  

But daily, she still draws inspiration from many sources. 

“It can be something I read in my devotion in the morning or something I see or hear,” Truitt said. “It can even be a woman’s colorful blouse who’s sitting on the church pew in front of me.”

She is also a true lover of nature, especially birds and trees, and those are displayed on her custom cards. 

“I love trees. They’re so imperfect and perfect,” Truitt said. “And I will see a bird in the yard and then research it — its spiritual meaning, etc.” 

On her larger pieces, she often pairs birds with unexpected items such as teacups and hats and always in a vibrant mix of colors. Her husband prints her cards in high definition, so they may be framed as artwork. 

“I always say ‘just send a little happy to someone,’” Truitt said. “Put down the technology. Instead of texting or emailing, send them a card.” 

As an experimental artist, she said she appreciates learning new things but always goes back to what she knows, too. 

“When we get a new product in, I take it home and learn it,” Truitt said. She then gives feedback about the item to other artists.

Because part of the beauty of collage is its flexibility, she doesn’t do commissions because it’s too structured and stressful.

“If someone tells me I have to paint a bird red, I shut down,” she said. “I can’t do it.”

Her work can be found in local art shows throughout the year including ones in Homewood, Riverchase and Crestline. 

For more information, go to her Facebook page at Pamela Comer-Truitt.