The Thriving Christian Artist

Textile Artist Creates Works that Inspire Connection: An Interview with Pamela Loewen

• Matt Tommey: Artist, Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur and Artist Mentor

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In this episode, I talk with Pamela Loewen, a gifted textile artist and gallery owner whose work blends modern design with timeless craftsmanship. 

From contemporary art quilting that breaks free from “grandma’s quilt” stereotypes to running a vibrant gallery space, Pamela has embraced creativity as both a personal calling and a ministry.

Her journey weaves together deep faith, innovative artistry, and a commitment to fostering beauty in her community. We explore how she discovered her unique creative voice, the courage it takes to step beyond tradition, and the incredible ways God is using her art and gallery to inspire others.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • How Pamela moved from traditional quilting into bold, contemporary design
  • The spiritual and creative lessons learned from opening a gallery
  • Why integrating faith with art leads to deeper impact
  • The challenges and rewards of pursuing a unique artistic path
  • How to cultivate a life that nurtures both creativity and ministry

🌟 Favorite Quotes from This Episode:

“When you’re in your creative space and you’re relaxed, the walls come down, and you connect with God in a way that is completely authentic.” — Pamela Loewen

 “If God can use the jawbone of a donkey, He can use your art.” — Matt Tommey


🌐 Connect with Pamela Loewen:
https://pamelaloewen.com
https://loewengallery.com

✅ Stay Connected & Grow as a Thriving Christian Artist:

Find out more about The Created to Thrive Foundations Course 

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Speaker 1:

All over the world, artists are awakening. Painters and potters, writers and weavers, poets and dancers not chasing followers or fame, but sons and daughters called for such a time as this, transformed from the inside out, creating with purpose, releasing the glory of God and living in the power of the kingdom. Right now, this is the Thriving Christian Artist. Well, hey, friends, welcome back to the podcast. I'm Matt Tommy, your host. Super glad that you are here. I'm really excited to have a friend of mine, pamela Lowen, who is here Long time coming. She's been on this incredible walk of faith not only as an artist but now as a gallery owner, and just really knew that she needed to be on the podcast today to share all the incredible stuff that God's been walking her through over these last few years. So, pamela, welcome. Really really glad that you're here.

Speaker 2:

Oh, thank you. Thank you for inviting me. I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, Absolutely. So for those who are just getting to know you maybe just give us a little thumbnail sketch of where you are in the world, what you do creatively, and then we'll kind of jump into some of your backstory.

Speaker 2:

Sure, I am an artist working in the medium of quilt making. I live in the Lansing Michigan area and I've been quilt making for over 30 years.

Speaker 1:

Wow, wow. So you've almost got the hang of it right. I mean it's almost. Wow, wow. So you've almost got the hang of it right. I mean it's Almost. You know I really love I've always loved your work. I guess, being a fellow fiber artist, you know I love what you do, the color stylistically, just the power of your designs and all of that. But you really seem to have really embraced a much more contemporary expression than what people may think of just grandma's quilts. You're really taking this in a whole beautiful area of modern design, modern quilt making. So how did that come about? Did you start traditionally and move into contemporary quilting, or were you always in more of the contemporary style?

Speaker 2:

No, I actually grew up in Lancaster, pennsylvania, surrounded by Amish farmland, wow. And so I grew up knowing traditional quilt making and my first class was like a sampler class where I made traditional quilts. And I did that for probably my first class was in 1987 until my first class with Nancy Crow in New Zealand in 2002. I did traditional quilt making, although when people looked at my work it always pushed the edge and the boundary of traditional quilt making. The color palette I would choose, or I like to take a block and do my own rendition of the block Sure If that makes sense, and when I entered shows they would put me in the non-traditional categories.

Speaker 1:

I feel the same way in my basketry right, Because I started out doing traditional basketry, like Appalachian egg baskets and that sort of thing, but because I use kind of wonky materials, vines and bark and all that kind of stuff, it was always like is he traditional or is he contemporary? We're not quite sure where he fits in that box. I totally get that.

Speaker 2:

Exactly exactly. And two like having being a quilt maker. You always had an excuse or a reason to make quilts right, because I certainly didn't grow up in a faith background that thought pursuing artistry was okay to do I was raised that you know you got to be in ministry. You know not in the arts.

Speaker 1:

So when someone had working for the church, ministry or missionary or something like that Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Your highest calling would be a missionary's wife, next would be a pastor's wife and then, if you didn't do that, support those who were that was kind of the background I was raised in, but my mother's best friend was an artist and I loved her and actually my mom led her to the Lord and then she took me to a Barrymore crusade. My mom's best friend, her name is Beej Beej Isabel, and that's when I got saved. Wow, my mom's best friend who was the artist. That's how I got saved.

Speaker 1:

Incredible.

Speaker 2:

She's always been a huge mentor to me and she's on fire for the Lord. She speaks and travels all over the place. She's involved in a ministry that does a lot of evangelistic outreach, but anyway. So making a quilt was like someone has a baby, someone gets married. Oh, you can make them a quilt, so you have an excuse. Yeah, sure can make them a quilt, so it's, you have an excuse.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, sure.

Speaker 2:

To be artistic.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Right. So that worked well for me. Plus, when I did look at art school, there wasn't a medium I was in love with. I actually won an award as a freshman in high school a national award for a watercolor picture I had done. As a freshman in high school a national award for a watercolor picture I had done. But my senior year with my little art portfolio, visiting the Institute of Maryland School of Arts, I was like saw someone's senior thesis and every canvas was brown, like solid brown.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

Ten canvases solid brown and I was like I just can't relate to this. But I also think the Lord knew I was. The Lord was taking me on a different path.

Speaker 1:

I went to Bible school instead. So it was interesting. So you got these kind of two things going right your art's going over here, you're coming to the Lord, going to Bible college and everything. When did those things kind of converge for you? Because I know, for me I did that for a long time, right. I mean, I was in ministry but then I had my kind of art hobby over here and I knew kind of subconsciously that when I did that, when I was in the woods, when I was making, I kind of felt more me and more relaxed and more kind of settled in myself than any other time.

Speaker 1:

And now that I look back on it probably connected with the Lord more than any other time. All the walls weren't up right, I was just really able to be free creatively and that sort of thing. But it was kind of after I went through my healing journey early on that I started reconnecting with my art and then I started saying, oh yeah, like God wants to bring these things together like a whole and healed Matt doing the thing that God created him to do, and that started making sense in my mind. So how did that look for for you? Cause you've got all this like the highest calling is to be a missionary or be in Bible school or all this kind of stuff. And yet you've got this, this passion for making and even serving people through your work. And when did those kind of begin to come together?

Speaker 2:

That's a good question. Um, probably more recently, when, when? Uh well, the other desire I had well, I got married, I had children, raised a family In 2002 is when I took my first class with Nancy Crow and realized that there were serious artists pursuing quilt making as an art form. So I started doing that and my husband was absolutely you're an artist, go for it. He called me an artist, probably 10 years before I could call myself an artist without blushing.

Speaker 1:

How great, though right, I mean, that's huge yeah yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And I think, reading your book Creative to Thrive, there was this one page. I wrote almost the whole page in my journal how you felt called to raise up and mentor the next generation of artists and I was like that's exactly what the Lord has been speaking to me about for the last year or two. I have a real heart to speak to that next generation Like, yes, if God has put this desire in your heart, it's actually from Him, whereas I struggled with that because nobody told me that God could call you to be an artist.

Speaker 1:

You know that newsflash.

Speaker 2:

yes, and I actually I'm involved with a prayer group every Monday, on Outs Tuesdays, in East Lansing where we pray for the arts. We worship for about half the time and we pray for the half the time for God to raise up artists and glorify the arts and use the arts to glorify his name in the city of.

Speaker 2:

Lansing and so this past March my show was all hung up in my gallery and I'm like, hey, would you guys, could we pray in my gallery space and worship and dedicate it to the Lord? And with me as I'm preparing to open the gallery. So we did that and that was super cool and one of the things as we were praying and worshiping and stuff, the Lord's Spirit just highlighted to me if I can use the jawbone of an ass. I can use a quilt.

Speaker 1:

I think I just said that exact thing on a podcast the other day. I was like if God can use a jawbone of a donkey, he can use your heart. Exactly, it's the.

Speaker 2:

Spirit of God. So I'm like, because that's always been my struggle- Like how can you use this? Okay, I'm going to stop doing this. I'm going to pursue ministry. You know, there was a lot of times where I'm like I'm going to lay my God, I'll lay my art aside for you and I'll do whatever. But I kept getting drawn back in and it just was a newsflash that God actually can use art for His glory. The big thing is to let go of me trying to figure out how.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

That I mean I don't know how and that's not my job is to figure out how my job is to do what he created me to do and then trust him that his purposes will be fulfilled.

Speaker 1:

And what?

Speaker 2:

exactly that looks like. I don't know. But, I do love when people come and see my gallery space and see my work. Number one comment is these are not my grandma's quilts. And I'm like, no, I said there's a whole spectrum of quilt making. And then number two is this is not what I was expecting, but you know, in a good way.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, and I'm like I'll take the compliment.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so.

Speaker 1:

No, yeah, I'm the same. I tell people, like with my baskets, I feel like this is not. I've never seen baskets like this. I'm like, well, basketry is a set of techniques and you can point them in any kind of style. You want to point them in right, traditional or contemporary, or you can mix them with other things, like I do, or or whatever. So it it. I think that's fun, though, creatively, to kind of help open people's eyes that wow, there, there's so many more, you know, wild ideas and a wonderful wide array of expression that people can have using still very basic techniques. But, you know, when we bring those together with a contemporary flair, that's just, that's just a lot of fun.

Speaker 2:

So well, and also as an artist. When people see your work, you don't want them to have seen anything like that before. That's right that means you found your voice.

Speaker 1:

That's right.

Speaker 2:

Right and that that's a plus.

Speaker 1:

That's right.

Speaker 1:

Well, you know, you mentioned a couple of times your gallery and I wanted to really kind of let people hear this story because we met several years ago when you were in our mastery program and we got to walk with you through kind of the birthing of that vision and beginning to see that come to pass.

Speaker 1:

And I tell you, pamela, you I don't, I don't know that I know anybody that's walked through what you've walked through with, um, with having a vision and walking in faith toward it and just seeing roadblock after roadblock after roadblock, after delay after delay, and, man, you never lost your cool, you, just you, just walking through it, cool as a cucumber. And I know there were moments that you were like what is going on, but you're, you're, you know, in the vision right now, and're you know in the vision right now and, uh, you know doing the thing that God's called you to do and have this beautiful space. But talk about how God began to lay that vision on your heart to have a gallery, uh, in your town. And then just a little bit of the learning process that you went through, because it is just an amazing testimony to the goodness of God.

Speaker 2:

Well, I was actually at Nancy Crowe's timber frame barn in Ohio taking a class, not with her but with someone else and she after lunch she was talking to a group of students on the other side of the room. I wasn't even part of the conversation and then I heard her say what we need is a gallery devoted to promoting quilt making as art. And then she pointed at me across the room and said and you're the one who should build it. And I just laughed. I'm like, yeah, no desire. Ha ha ha.

Speaker 2:

Right right, never gonna happen. I think that was either 2016 or 2017. And then in my studio space at home, I was outgrowing it and I was trying to figure out how I could make my studio space bigger and we had already done two additions to the house and my husband said I couldn't add to the house again and I also was really wanting a space where I could maybe begin mentoring and teaching. And so I talked to a friend. We had an empty lot next door. Like what if I built something there? But it was zoned residential, not commercial. And so he's like hey, can I come visit you? And he showed me five different properties for sale in my little town. And we went and we like, when I saw this, this is the former dance studio. The building's about 100 years old, the ceilings are 14 to 15 feet high and have like the old tin on the first floor yeah and when I saw it it's two stories and a back building.

Speaker 2:

I'm like this would be a gorgeous gallery. The second story could be my next studio, and the back building is a place where I could hold small classes yeah and, uh, I bought it 2019 in 2019. Wow so, but it also had not had like the original electrical wiring was still in the building, like it was still covered in cloth.

Speaker 1:

Oh gosh, yeah. So uh, rehab sounds like yeah, well, well.

Speaker 2:

And what our County did was, if you change the use of a building, they threw the entire set of seven code books at you and even though the previous person was teaching an art form, teaching dance, I'm like, well, I'm teaching an art form, they're like, yeah, no, you got to bring it up to code. So it was a major. And then, of course, covid happened and Michigan was a major lockdown state because some states had stricter rules than others.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we were like that in Asheville, so I totally get that, Yep yep.

Speaker 2:

And then of course we had the shortages of building supplies and whatever. And then there were issues with the person who was doing the renovations that he kind of hit a wall and he couldn't get any further. Doing the renovations, that he kind of hit a wall and he couldn't get any further, I was required to put an elevator in which. That was really a source of a lot of the delays, right, but God's hand was in it. I wanted to open in 22, and that didn't happen.

Speaker 2:

But my dad passed away, so that was perfect because I was going to open. It was going to be two days after my dad passed away, so God knew that was not the time for me to open, and then the next year my mother-in-law. Well, no, the next month my dad passed away in September. The next month my mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer, and so she had no daughters, just my two boys, and so my husband and I were very involved in her care, and she passed away the following November.

Speaker 1:

So again the Lord knew.

Speaker 1:

Like, yes, I was delayed, yes, I was going crazy, but these other things were going on in my life that I was grateful yeah that the gallery wasn't open yet and I was able to give full attention to these things and my dad and my mother-in-law, both believers, you know, I know I'll see him again, um I just love it, though, because you mentioned earlier, before we got on, that you know you had even said wouldn't it be cool if I could be in the, the studio of this new building, you know, a couple of years before we actually opened, just to kind of get my bearings. And that actually happened, maybe not the way you thought it was going to happen, but the Lord actually gave you that gift.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, yeah and his. You know his timing's always perfect.

Speaker 1:

How did you, in the middle of that I mean, I remember when you were in mastery, you know we'd talk about it and then we'd get emails from you and calls and be like, oh my God, all this stuff and I just remember, you know, no matter how bad it was, you're like, well, I know God's got a plan, I know God's got a plan, and um, so what did you do?

Speaker 1:

I guess internally, because I know that when we've got a vision from the Lord and it's a powerful, big vision that's going to release this transformation and going to change people's lives, the enemy pulls out all the stops right, and so he's trying to get us to come out of agreement with the vision that God's given us and into agreement with the lies and the mirage of fear that he's trying to put up there, the lies and the mirage of fear that that he's trying to put up there. What were you doing on a daily basis, moment by moment basis, just to to keep yourself encouraged and be like, nope, I'm not giving up, like I'm going to keep going, no matter what. And um, I mean that's just that, like people, you can maybe can do that for a week or two, but you're talking like two and a half three years that you had to walk through this. This was no joke.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's true. I think part of it, like when my dad was still alive. My dad was very entrepreneurial, started a lot of businesses and I would have conversations with him, like who am I to do this? And he's like you know. Wouldn't you rather try and fail than never try at all?

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And I remember one time I was kind of talking to the Lord like Lord, I'm a nobody, and the scripture came to mind, I think it's in Isaiah I delight in using nobodies and I'm like, cool, that's me, I'm qualified, I'm qualified. Well, that's me, I'm qualified, I'm qualified. So you know, I think a lot of it was just my entrepreneurial background, a lot of support. I have two brothers and a sister. We're all. We have a family office with these businesses. We work together, we encourage one another. So I had a big support system there and, of course, my husband. There was never any talk of quitting or giving up. It's just a matter of it's going to happen, when it's going to happen, and we can trust the Lord.

Speaker 2:

So, I had a whole group of people who were encouraging and with me in the yo-yos encouraging and with me in the yo-yos, and the Lord is faithful. And I would say the biggest thing I think that helps me is I start every day with the Lord and I have a journal and it's funny I look back on old journals and I write out prayers. Sometimes because, if I don't, my mind wanders and I see like old prayers I had prayed and I'm like, wow, god, you answered that and I didn't even realize it. Because you forget, right, you forget.

Speaker 1:

Go back and put a checkmark by it.

Speaker 2:

Right done yeah yeah, and and also like when I was in the mastery program, it was nice there were other. There were other gallery owners there who also had their stories of what they went through. Um, so, and I knew too from my dad, like being in business is not for the faint of heart right right you know and you have to. You have to plan for it to be a long game. That's the biggest thing about new businesses. They need to be resourced for maybe the first three years.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, sure.

Speaker 2:

Plan on. It can take that long to establish yourself and have a cash flow where you're breaking even or making money. It can take up to three years.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely, so you have to be prepared for that. Yeah, and that's no matter what industry you're in, especially in the arts right.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, Absolutely Exactly. And you know my little town. I had a local businessman come in, a barber and he looked around and he was like yeah, yeah, this is no one in this town is going to buy this.

Speaker 2:

like, um, well, I'm hoping to be a destination gallery that's right, people will come, you know, I want to be, you know, uh, but then I've had other people come in and be like, wow, this is beautiful, this is amazing. Thank you for for believing in the town and opening this yeah, so you get the spectrum, sure you?

Speaker 1:

have to be gracious to everybody yeah, well, there's always going to be people that don't get what you do or what you carry in this life. I mean, we we used to have people like that all the time. Coming to the river arts district in asheville and I had a lady one time. She's like this is so great. Now what do you do for a living?

Speaker 1:

and and I said, well it'd be this every day I come in and I make art and I sell it, you know, but people, just, you know, we, we think, how stupid can people be? But they're not. They just don't have a context right For art, buying art and art is, you know, important in culture and all that and in people's lives. So we get the beautiful opportunity to get to bridge that gap with people.

Speaker 1:

But, pamela, I want to ask you, as we're kind of wrapping up today, you know there are so many people that are listening out there that maybe they have a dream right that God's put on their heart. Maybe they've been waiting, waiting, waiting for something to pop, you know, and just doesn't feel like it's coming. What would you say to them? In order to number one, I guess, keep connected to the vision that God's given them. But also, at some point we have to take a step of faith, right, we have to step out, even when we, when we don't see it right, coming fully into fruition, into into reality yet. So what would you just say to encourage somebody like that that's sitting there full of vision but not seeing it come to pass?

Speaker 2:

yet Well, persistence pays. You know I actually we have a super bowl for our art form. It's called quilt national and the first time I entered it was, I think, in the year 2000. I did not get in. I finally got in in the year 2017.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

And as we were driving to the opening, I said to my husband there is one award I do not want to get. And I told him about this award because it was awarded to the person who had tried the most times before they actually got in.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Or years person who had tried the most times before they actually got in right. Um, or or years, so um, anyway, I did win that award. I tied with someone. We both got it. I also got another award, um, but I was actually just visiting the more most recent quilt national show in athens, ohio, and the man who was sitting in the gallery space was the man who handed me the award and I introduced myself to him. I'm like, hey, you gave me an award. He's like, hey, you're a Persistence Pays gal. And then when I got back to my studio space or in my gallery, I was giving an artist talk to some ladies and I said the Persistence Pays Award was for this quilt and the Holy Spirit just was like Pam, the Lord is honoring your persistence.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, come on you have been persistent and that quilt was actually bought by the International Quilt Museum and it's in their collection. And even my whole show in my gallery was done over 14 years and I had never seen all my work hung up at once. And to see it and to realize I had this cohesive body of work that. I kept consistently working at through difficult times in my life, I was diagnosed with depression. Working at through difficult times in my life, I was diagnosed with depression.

Speaker 2:

I had a daughter who had significant health issues that required a lot of doctor's appointments, and there were a lot of difficult things going on in my life, but I still was able to create and I think that creative space and creating is what God made me to do and it was also what rejuvenated me and, like if I didn't get in my studio space for a week or two, my husband would say you're grumpy, you need to go work. He would recognize that that was my space where I refueled and found joy. Yeah, and you know, I also think of Moses, right? He spent 40 years in the desert, right? 40 years in Pharaoh's palace, 40 years in the desert, 40 years leading God's people.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

There are lots of people in the Word who God like David. He was anointed how many years till he actually became a Jew. So, in that between time, just keep making, keep developing your talent. If you have the opportunity to study with people, in whatever your medium is, study with them. Keep making, sketch, develop your voice and, most important, develop your relationship with the Lord, because if he's put this desire in your heart to make, he has a purpose for it and he wants it to be uniquely yours. That's so good.

Speaker 1:

It's so good because it's in those in-between times, right that the tension of knowing and not seeing it yet. Right, that God is working in our hearts and he's preparing the foundations, he's filling the cracks, right, he's doing all the things that we need to be able to walk in the things that he's actually promised us in our life and I just I love your story and family, just your faithfulness, I mean, and persistence pays. That may be the, the name of the, of the, the title of this episode, because, man, that is just, you're such a poster child of that story and thank you for being on today. I know folks are going to want to connect with you. Come to the destination, see the gallery, but maybe follow you on Instagram or your website first, so where's all the places that they can find you and connect?

Speaker 2:

Well, I have a personal website, pamelalohancom, and I have work there and I blog once a month and then the gallery is LohanGallerycom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram. I don't know those addresses by heart. I apologize.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but we can look them up and put them in the show notes so people can find that. But, Pamela, what a joy to be with you today. I know people are super inspired and just again, just another somebody, another, somebody saying keep going, God's got a plan and uh, and you're definitely do that. So thank you for being on the podcast today. It's been a joy.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Hey, my friend, before you go, make sure that you're signed up for the thriving Christian artists. Weekly it's my free newsletter, full of spiritual encouragement, creative inspiration and practical tips to help you thrive in everything that God's called you to do as an artist in his kingdom. Every issue is absolutely free and it includes the latest podcast episode, featured artist spotlights, a worship song of the week and again, tons of tips and encouragement and inspiration for you to keep you inspired and encouraged in everything that God's got for you as an artist in the kingdom. You can click the link right here in the show notes to join us, and it's a great way to stay connected. All right, love you Bye.