ABOUT THE POM PILOT
I am a Los Angeles artist (and attorney) whose murals, toy portraits, bejeweled hummingbird paintings,
and Ed The Chicken series
have been displayed in art shows, shops, homes, offices, and pottery studios.
Pom 365 is my year-long project challenging myself to create a new character each day
using small cotton pom poms. And sparkles. Lots of sparkles.
© 2023 Behold The Pom
THE
POM PILOT
Q&A
Brandy Pomefee
interviews
The Pom Pilot
© 2023 Behold The Pom
INTERVIEWER:
Describe your pre-Pom Pilot days
THE POM PILOT:
I started drawing at 3 years old. My grandma taught me how to draw and how to use pastels.
Grandma would save greeting cards and tell me to pick one. Then she’d teach me how to draw it on a piece of cardboard from her “nylons” – proportions, scaling. So I learned how to reproduce an image pretty well.
At age 16, my aunt wanted someone to paint bunnies in her kids’ rooms – I figured I could probably do it, so I gave it a try. For 10 years, I painted murals for homes and businesses in Los Angeles. I mixed my own colors. I really took to it.
Because of Grandma, I can look at a picture of a 2-inch palm tree and I can paint it 6 feet tall in a home without sketching. It’s totally natural to me. I don’t think twice about it.
THE POM PILOT:
Grandma would also bejewel everything – paintings, picture frames, purses, bowls, vases, tissue boxes, drink coasters, hair barrettes, combs, and brush handles – even toilet seats.
She had a business selling hand jeweled bags and hanky boxes. The May Company ordered 500 of her bags, but Grandpa said no. That surprised me because growing up he seemed like a progressive guy who told me I could do anything. But I guess he didn’t want Grandma to run a factory with employees – he wanted and needed her to raise the kids.
As her grandchild, I had my own box of jewels at her house to enhance everything. Jeweling things is second nature to me. It’s like breathing.
© 2023 Behold The Pom
INTERVIEWER:
How did you find your path to pom pom art?
THE POM PILOT:
Art is my meditation. But I’m an attorney, and it’s hard to find several hours of chunked time to paint. There’s not much progress daily if I only have 20 or 30 minutes to spare, so then I just wouldn’t paint for days, weeks, or months until that chunk of time freed up. So even though I’ve been an artist since age three, I haven’t had a regular daily practice of doing art – until I started Pom 365.
THE POM PILOT:
I went to an art exhibit in Paso Robles for artist Hellie Blythe – who creates dioramas with scenes made from pistachio nut shells.
I saw her full chess set of pistachio creatures – with pawns sporting bottle-cap shields. It was incredible, and it inspired me to make my own chess set as a gift for my dad’s birthday. I needed something that was 3-D but could dry quickly. I thought, how about pom poms?
Then I remembered being a kid collecting from pom poms with googly eyes and little feet on them. So fast forward, I started making pom creatures and realized I could make a dragon, flamingo – anything – out of poms. Even a character representing pajamas.
It was clear that pom pom art could be my hour-a-day, steady, creative project. Pom 365 was born.
INTERVIEWER:
How challenging has it been to commit to creating pom pom art every day for a year?
THE POM PILOT:
I knew when I started that I would commit to 365 consecutive days. I never doubted I would finish – just like when I went to law school. I’m good at following through on my commitments.
I made a travel kit so I don’t miss a day when I’m on the road for work. I may be the only attorney who walks through airport security with legal briefs and a supply of pom poms, googly eyes, and jewels. I also have an understudy in case I’m too sick. But even when I had my ablation on my heart, I came home and made my Pom of the Day.