The Brigantine Beach Cultural Arts Commission announces Phylis Pollins as the August artist of the month. Her work will be on display this month in the City Hall showcase, located to the right as you enter the building.

As far back as Pollins can remember she was always interested in art.  As a young girl in Delaware County, Pa. her talent was evident in her fourth-grade teacher’s appreciation of her drawings and the painting awards she won in sixth grade.  Good art requires a combination of technical skills and creativity and Pollins honed her technical skills working for Boeing Corporation as a technical illustrator for 20 years.  “I drew helicopter parts for the Osprey and Chinook.  They had to be perfect, no room for error,” she said. 

Working at Boeing during the day, raising a son, who is now in the Air Force waiting to enter Officers Training School, and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, did not allow the artist much time to work on her creativity.  However, she did attend Philadelphia College of Art and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the evening to nurture her creativity.  After Boeing, Pollins worked as an architectural draftsperson continuing to enhance her technical skills.

Wanting to experience a different side of life, Pollins left the corporate world , did some travelling and finally settled in Brigantine six years ago where she began to spend more time on the imaginative side of her artwork. Initially she focused on pen and ink drawings which highlighted her extreme attention to detail and well-honed technical skills.  Her drawing of an owl won a prize at the Atlantic City Art Center in “A Celebration of Artistic Women “juried exposition.  She also entered her pencil rendition of “Best Friends,” a meticulously drawn piece representing two older women into an art show at the Pen and Brush Gallery in New York City.

“It was a thrill for me to see my picture hanging in a gallery in Greenwich Village,” she said. “My family and friends came to see it and it made me feel like I was a real artist.”

Wanting to expand her capabilities and branch out into other mediums Pollins began to take classes with Sister Celeste Mokrzyckj.

“Working with watercolor was very challenging at first,” Pollins said. “Moving from black and white to color was a new experience plus there was very little room to correct errors.  When you made your mark on the paper you couldn’t change it.” She also experimented with acrylics and continued to look for new ways to express herself.

Pollins believes that living in Brigantine has helped stir her creative thinking.  She also has enjoyed meeting many of the local artists, Her connection to the Brigantine Beach Artists Group resulted in her being commissioned by a number of shop owners to do paintings of  their store fronts.

“I try to do as much art work as I can,” she said. “But the summer time is very busy, especially with four kids, four grandchildren and one on the way, and a host of friends who love to come and visit.  I do know though that I love art and will continue to try to get better for the rest of my life.”