Baptist Booneville team member donates work to Art of Caring

Baptist Booneville team member Pam Sparks, a secretary in nursing administration, donated a painting to Art of Caring, the Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation’s annual art auction benefiting Baptist Trinity Hospice programs and the Kemmons Wilson Family Center for Good Grief.

The piece, titled “Masked Emotion,” depicts the seven stages of grief. Pam describes her work below.

Those who have suffered the loss of a loved one go through an emotional journey. Masks are designed to hide that which sits beneath. All too often either afraid or ashamed of what others will see. When it comes to grief we are no different, hiding behind those masks becoming dependent on that masks. We use it to hide the true color of our emotions.

As an artist, I work hard to develop paintings and sketches that speak to both me and to others. Part of my process before I begin is to research as much as I can about a specific subject that I am about to recreate on canvas. I do not want to just capture the image with my brushes or pencils; rather, with careful, colorful strokes, I want to give my creations life and cause the viewer to see the raw emotion in each thoughtful stroke. With every finished work my hope is that I have somehow breathed life into a design or idea that is displayed carefully on canvas.

Pam has been creating art for 22 years. She paints and draws in watercolor, oil, charcoal, acrylic, pencil, pen and ink, creating portraits, landscapes and still life.

This year’s Art of Caring event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Memphis Zoo’s Teton Trek. Tickets are $40 each, but you don’t have to attend the event to bid on items. You can visit http://501auctions.com/artofcaring to bid on artwork, vacation packages, fishing trips, dinners and more.