Pamelina H. The Heart That Rocks the Art of the Guitar

By: Rick Landers

Some minds gush with ideas, colors, concepts and visions that are beyond a mere reflection of reality, but illuminate the world with their phantasmagorical images and mesmerizing dreamscapes. One such mind is that of the masterful artist, Pamelina H., whose artwork adorns Fender Stratocasters, Les Pauls and other fine musical instruments and her work can be riveting, whimsical, nostalgic, otherworldly and sublime.

She literally recasts our thinking about the instruments, allowing us to enhance our traditional views with images of Marilyn Monroe, Elton John, Bettie Page and other more surreal artwork, where we merge the functional instrument with an iconic personality or cosmic aura. In each instance, you get a glimpse of the heart of the person behind the art, where there’s always a feeling of hipness, fun and a certain reverence for the avant-garde that has illuminated the American landscape.

Looking back, we discover that at 13 years old one of her illustrations was published in Vampirella, a fantasy magazine first published in that same year [1969] with the cover illustration on Volume 1, by the legendary artist Frank Frazetta. And by the time she reached 17, she began a professional career as a paid freelance illustrator for Gallery and Hooker magazine. She would move to Europe for awhile and in 1985 regroup in California, where she began painting guitars for a shop called, Left Is Right Guitar, in the Bay area. She also found freelance work with Genesis, Aerosmith, the Scorpions, Mötley Crüe and others top rockers.

Around 1989, in a move that was either naive or gutsy – or both – Pamelina managed her way past security at NAMM in Anaheim, California, where she met the co founder of the then new Fender Custom Shop, John Page. They would become fast friends and accomplices in exploring ideas for new artful finishes on some of the Custom Shop axes.

Her first Strat job was called, Leather Ass and featured the suggestive bare buttocks of a leather-clad vamp. The Page-H partnership would continue with John offering Pamelina ideas, but free reign to come up with something cool. And she did – over and over again. The Hendrix Strat, the Harley Strat, the Marilyn Monroe Strat are all now milestone guitars in the history of the Fender Custom Shop.

Today, she’s expanding her professional brand using social media networks that includes her Facebook page and you can also find her work shown on a series of websites. Her current project is to establish a Pamelina H. Gallery where visitors can wander her own gallery and  enjoy her multi-faceted art work and discover some art that they can’t live without.

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Rick: While checking out some of your artwork, I’d have to say that you reflect some fondness of the art that I’ve seen in science fiction and fantasy books.  While finding your artistic path what and who were your major influences?

Pamelina: I graduated from comic books to graphic magazines like Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella early on. My favorite covers were done by Frank Frazetta. I was greatly influenced by his art, but also by his wife Ellie, and how she took care of the business and created many standards for freelance artists which are still in use today. At age 13, I purchased my first issue of Heavy Metal and was inspired by artists like Moebius, Caza, Druillet and many others.

Rick: You also show a modernity in your art, but sometimes marry up to retro-art or iconic celebrities like Elvis and Bettie Page – Ever wish that you grew up during the ‘40s and ‘50s to experience the scene(s) first hand?

Pamelina: I love the style and fashion of those times. They’re unique and instantly recognizable. But I’ve never wished I’d grown up then. The times were too conservative for me.

Rick: What inspired you to first paint guitars and what was your first design?

Pamelina: The first guitar I painted was at the request of a guitar player I knew. All he specified was that he wanted black and red on his white guitar (I don’t remember what model it was). I took black and red paint and just blew it around with my airbrush. Not very artistic, but it was interesting and showed up well from the stage. The guitar player told me he’s going to be buried with it.

Rick: Tell us about your first project with Fender’s Custom Shop.

Pamelina: My first project with the Fender Custom Shop was a dream for any artist. I was shipped 10 bodies and told to paint whatever I wanted.

Rick: There are some obvious limitations that I’d think you have to work around on a guitar, as opposed to a blank flat canvas.  What was the most challenging theme that you’ve had to work with on a guitar that you had to keep going over until you finally got what you wanted?

Pamelina: There hasn’t been a really challenging theme. The challenge early on was the paint I had to use. In the beginning, I used automotive paints which are toxic. I gave myself 2 years to find a non-toxic paint I could use or I would give up guitar painting. Luckily, I found that acrylics worked even better.

Rick: Were you always a doodler growing up and at what point did you decide that you were going to make art you life’s passion?

Hendrix Monterey Pop Fender Custom Shop Strat Hand-painted limited edition with Fender's Custom Shop

Pamelina: Growing up with an artist mother, she had me smearing paint on paper as soon as I was able. At the age of 10, I submitted a drawing to Vampirella magazine which was printed in the fan section. From then on, I knew that was what I wanted to do.

Rick: So, how did your career evolve and what path did you take until you became so well known as Pamelina H?

Pamelina: Requests to paint guitars came in quickly after I painted my first one. I began working with a luthier in the Bay Area who told me about NAMM Show. I went to my first NAMM Show within a year of painting my first guitar and snuck in with a painted guitar. Security was much more lax back then. At NAMM I made contact with Fender and Ibanez and began working with both of them immediately.

I decided to use only my last initial because it’s too long for people to remember and my first name is unique and easily recognizable. I began doing that at the age of 13 when signing paintings.

Rick: What single piece of art of yours best defines you as an artist?

Pamelina: Goddess in the Hall of Echoes. It’s not painted on a guitar, but is a very special piece to me. It was a rare moment when I gave myself as much time as I wanted to complete a piece. I pushed myself to incorporate all that I’d learned and paint something that had meaning to me. I haven’t given myself that luxury since.

As for guitars, I’d say the piece that best defines me is the Hendrix Monterey Pop Strat I painted for Fender, both professionally and personally. It’s the most well-known guitar art I’ve ever done, having been played publicly by both John Mayer and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. On a personal level, it has a lot of meaning. I attended the ’67 Monterey Pop Festival as a child and then 30 years later, I was commissioned to re-create the art that Jimi painted on his guitar before his breakout performance. I started by re-creating it as closely to the original as possible. Then through a series of 7 prototypes, the work evolved into what I eventually painted 210 times.

Rick: I’m surprised that there aren’t any Beatles themed guitars – like a Yellow Submarine guitar – in your portfolio? Not a fan?

Pamelina: I’m a huge fan of the Beatles. Most of the work I’ve done on guitars has been commissioned by guitar manufacturers or personal clients. I’ve only recently started painting my own original art. To this point, no one has requested a Beatles guitar. It surprises me, too.

Rick: What do you think of guitars like Clapton’s “The Fool” guitar or George Harrison’s “Rocky” Strat?

Pamelina: Ingenious. The art of that time was experimental and very free and it’s beautifully captured on these 2 iconic instruments. I can also appreciate how much tougher it was to do in those days.

Once I was commissioned to paint a Strat using the ‘The Fool’ as inspiration. I titled it ‘The Fool’s Mistress’.

Rick: Your artwork has a sense of hipness mixed with a spirit of fun – Does that also reflect you as a person or are you more serious?

Pamelina: I get teased about how often I refer to what I do or what I’m working on as fun. Fortunately, it’s become hip to be a total nerd who’s into comics and sci-fi. I’m serious when it’s called for, but for the most part, I view life as an incredible adventure to be enjoyed.

Rick: Can you walk us through a basic step-by-step of the process you go through in developing and finalizing one of your guitar art projects?

Steampunk Lipe guitar Limited edition launched at winter NAMM 2012.

Pamelina: The inspiration is the first step. That can come from anywhere. A dream, a song, something I’ve experienced or seen. I start with a pencil sketch which I scan into my computer. I work on the sketch in Photoshop until I have something that I’m happy with. I print out the sketch in the actual size I’m working on and transfer the artwork to the guitar. Depending on the design, I complete the work with a paintbrush or airbrush or a combination of both. I use the airbrush very little these days. Then it goes off for clearcoat.

Rick: Any interesting stories related to you being inspired that resulted in one of your guitar projects?

Pamelina: I designed a guitar in Photoshop commemorating the election of President Obama. The design was for a Gibson Les Paul. I posted the design on my website at 11 pm, then shut down the computer. I woke up the next morning and found that it was already sold to a man in Africa. And I hadn’t even painted it yet!

I’m a big fan of the show Battlestar Galactica. I wanted to do something around the show and so contacted the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation. I created a guitar for them to sell in a charity auction in exchange for the cast autographing a painting for me. They went above and beyond by each of them posing with the guitar body for photos, then autographing the photos, too. I’m looking forward to hanging the whole group in my gallery. Along with a lot of other work that has been resting in file drawers for years.

I’m also a big fan of the Lakers. I couldn’t find an ‘in’ with the organization and so finally called them directly, offering a guitar contribution for their next fundraiser. I’ve been donating artwork now for 4 years and enjoy spending time with the players twice a year. My way of giving back for all the hours of joy they’ve given me.

Rick: Have you considered an artwork project with a transparent guitar where you layered your work for a 3D look?

Pamelina: This question hints at something specific you’d like to see done, Rick.

I did a little of that with the first Catalina guitar. I painted the back of a clear pickguard. The rest of the guitar body was carved by George Amicay, the famed Fender Custom Shop wood carver. He did work that was a joy to paint. I enjoy working on relief projects to bring even more life to the subject without all the hard work of painting the illusion of 3-dimensionality. Then it’s all about the details.

Rick: I understand that you are now working on establishing a storefront. How did that idea come about and how are you moving toward that vision?

Pamelina: There were several things that happened at once to make me realize this was the next step to take. I had several guitars built by luthiers that I’d worked with at Fender and Ibanez, for a show I’d arranged with Guitar Center Hollywood. I started thinking about what I would do with the guitars after the show and realized my guitars needed a permanent place to be displayed and for sale. And my home studio is too small for me to work in anymore.

As far as how I’m doing it, I’m learning on the fly. I’m currently in the process of raising funds that includes a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.com. I think it’s a cool idea that people can be involved by donating small amounts of money to make something big happen.

The process is almost as exciting as painting and has grown from a vision to a near-reality quickly. I plan to open the gallery with the Pamelina and the Masterbuilders show. It’ll feature guitars built by masterbuilders and friends – John Page, Fred Stuart, John Suhr, Scott Grant, J.W. Black, Gene Baker, Mike Lipe and John Cruz. It’s been a real treat for us all to be working together again and I think it’ll be a real treat for guitar enthusiasts to see the works of art and music we’ve created.

Rick: I recall reading that at one point you were a window painter. How about a sneak preview of what we can expect to see on your own storefront windows?

Pamelina: While the main focus of the gallery will be painted guitars, it’ll also showcase the other work that I do that includes painting motorcycles, portraits, and original art. I worked for many years with merchandising companies creating tour artwork for bands including Aerosmith, Scorpions and Megadeth. I own all the original art.

3-D Rendition of Pamelina H's Planned Gallery Shop

I also worked on Looney Tunes designs and have all that art, too. I do work under the pseudonym PS Jones and have developed a series of paintings called Bare Bones Religion.

It’s hard to come up with something that accurately portrays everything that I do, so I thought it best to keep it simple. I ended up using a design that I created a while back. It’s based on a t-shirt design for a concert that my husband’s band played in and I always loved the sun shape in the middle. I decided to go with that.

GALLERY

James Worthy Fender Jazz bass Given to James Worthy as a birthday present on LTV before a Lakers game broadcast. One of the few basses I've painted.

American Slang Psychedelic limited edition Fender Custom Shop Strat Featured on the cover of Fender Custom Shop's calendar.

California Republic Suhr guitar - One of the guitars from the California-themed Pamelina and the Masterbuilders show.

Captain Fantastic Gibson Les Paul Painted for Davey Johnstone for the Captain Fantastic 30th Anniversary tour.

Country Falcon Gretsch Autographed Gretsch featuring Kim Falcon.

Absinthe DBZ guitar Printed production run.

Just Marilyn Page guitar One of the guitars from the California-themed Pamelina and the Masterbuilders show.

Harley-Davidson 90th Anniversary Strat My first production guitar with Fender's Custom Shop.

LAFD Stuart Rock-It-Tone guitar One of the guitars from the California-themed Pamelina and the Masterbuilders show.

Hendrix Monterey Pop Fender Custom Shop Strat Hand-painted limited edition with Fender's Custom Shop

Chumash Fender Custom Shop Strat One of the guitars from the California-themed Pamelina and the Masterbuilders show.

 

Universal Monsters Fender Custom Shop Strat One of the guitars from the California-themed Pamelina and the Masterbuilders show.

 

Playboy 40th Anniversary Playboy Strat First hand-painted limited edition with Fender's Custom Shop