I am a historian of late medieval and early modern Europe and also, I paint and draw. I live in two places, Brattleboro, VT, and Washington, DC. I have been painting for about fifteen years and took numerous classes and workshops (over 40) in drawing, painting, and sculpture from the Washington Studio School in Washington DC between 2012 and 2022.  As a historian I have researched and written about artisans and craftspeople, and the cultures of knowledge surrounding them in fifteenth and sixteenth-century Europe. As I continue to do historical work, I have also made a serious commitment to painting and drawing–activities that require paying close attention to what I see, including color, line, and value. These are highly immersive activities, requiring very different faculties than scholarly research, and I enjoy them immensely. I paint with oils on canvas or board, and create images of objects, interiors, tools and hands, and machines (among other things)  in a style I might call expressive realism. In drawing, I primarily use pencil and charcoal on paper–both in a sketchbook and in figure drawing sessions at the Drawing Studio..

I discovered the Drawing Studio (founded by Jason Alden) after I moved to Brattleboro in 2019. I joined as a member when it became a non-profit two years ago (and helped it to become a non-profit). I find it a supportive and warm-hearted space for meeting and for drawing—a truly wonderful meeting space for creators. When I am in Vermont (as opposed to DC) I regularly attend the figure drawing sessions, as well as other gatherings.

History website: www.pamelaolong.com

Painting website: www.pamelalongpaintings.com