Eve Plumb

Eve Plumb

Eve Plumb started her acting career at age 6 performing in many television and commercials. She is well remembered for her portrayal of “Jan” on “The Brady Bunch”, as well as, TV movies such as “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway” and “Little Women”. Eve studied improv comedy at The Groundlings School in Los Angeles. Stage credits include the off-Broadway Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore, Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage, Unbroken Circle and regional theatre work throughout the United States. Eve has proudly been part of two “Broadway Backwards” performances for Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids. Recent television credits include “Law and Order: SVU” and “Army Wives.” Eve also starred in the film Blue Ruin (Winner Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Sundance Spotlight Festival, Independent Spirit nominee).

Eve has been painting steadily for the last 25 years. Largely self-taught, she has focused on still life for the majority of her subject matter, painting objects or moments from her everyday life and travels. More recently she has expanded her subject matter to include NYC scenes as well as scenes from classic Film Noir and Western movies.

“Painting is a creative outlet for me when I’m not acting. It gives me a feeling of control over my creative life. An actor often has to wait for projects to come along, but I can paint any time of the day. I sometimes describe my art as ‘spontaneous still life’. Whenever I see a likely subject, everything stops and I take photographs. This holds the moment in time until I can paint it.”

Her compositions are oils on canvas or linen and range in size from 5″ x 8″ to 30″ x 40″.

Eve works out of her home and studio in New York City.

“I’ve always loved to paint and draw. For many years I was frustrated by my inability to create what I wanted to see. I worked in watercolors and acrylics and managed to make a few paintings I liked well enough to hang on the wall. I kept at it, trying new techniques and talking to other artists I knew. In the past, I had tried oil, but couldn’t seem to make it work. I also tried a paint called casein, which is a milk based paint that allows you to re wet and re work it. But I decided to try working with oils again, and this time was able to make a painting I liked. I had no idea how to use it, and in reading books came away with the idea that it’s up to you to decide how to use the paint, a medium, like linseed oil, and turpentine. I studied more and became comfortable with the process. Also at this time I was exploring subject matter. I started by using photos from books, and then did a series of paintings that were from 1950’s magazines. I love graphic art and magazine ads from the past, and was also collecting vintage items. I started taking my own photographs and getting more confident with composition. I was painting a lot of different subject matter- dogs, old family photos, architecture. I decided to focus on small intimate moments from my own life. I started noticing when sunlight hit items in the house in an interesting way and photographing them.”

“My husband and I travel a lot, so I’m always keeping an eye out for composition, color, and shadow.”

“When working on still life, I prefer to leave the objects arranged as I come upon them and paint them as I see them. It gives the painting a more casual, spontaneous look.”

“When working from the photos I don’t necessarily want to re-create it exactly, but look to reimagine it.”

“In both instances I do this it by adding color, and working with the light source to represent a mood or capture a feeling.”