Meet Cheryl Lynn Pastor

My vision as an artist is to create work that feels alive—art that carries movement, emotion, and presence beyond the surface. Through abstract expressionism, impressionism, and mixed media, I seek to capture moments that exist between thought and feeling, allowing intuition to lead the way. I am drawn to the expressive potential of materials and marks, using layering, texture, and gesture to communicate what cannot always be articulated in words. Each piece is a response to lived experience, memory, and observation, translated into visual form with honesty and intention.

I envision my work as an open invitation rather than a fixed narrative—one that allows viewers to bring their own histories, emotions, and interpretations into the experience. By embracing experimentation and nontraditional approaches, I aim to create art that is both personal and universal, grounded yet expansive. My goal is to produce meaningful, memorable works that resonate long after the initial encounter—art that encourages reflection, connection, and a deeper appreciation for the expressive power of materials and intuition.

Artistic Vision

Creative Process

My creative process is rooted in intuition, experimentation, and an ongoing conversation with materials. I work primarily in abstract expressionism, impressionism, and mixed media, allowing each piece to unfold organically rather than from a predetermined plan. I begin by responding to emotion, movement, memory, or color—trusting instinct as my primary guide.

I move fluidly between disciplines and techniques, often combining expressive mark-making with impressionistic suggestions of form and atmosphere. My work evolves through layers: adding, subtracting, scraping back, and reworking surfaces until the composition reveals its own visual truth.

I use a wide range of tools to create texture, energy, and depth, including traditional paint brushes alongside graphite sticks and pencils, oil pastels, scrapers, catalysts, and squeegees. Each tool offers a different voice, and I allow them to speak freely within the work. Some surfaces are carefully prepared with gesso, while others are left raw—such as unprimed cotton canvas—so the materials themselves can influence the final outcome.

I am not bound by use of any one instrument. I use whatever materials are at my disposal to translate feeling into form, believing that beauty emerges from honesty, risk, and responsiveness to the moment. Each piece is an intuitive exploration meant to be both visually compelling and emotionally resonant—an invitation for the viewer to pause, feel, and remember.