Princeton, New Jersey, she studied sculpture and art history at Massachusetts College of Art. She moved to Provincetown in 1981, where she was tutored in drawing by Fritz Bultman, a painter, sculptor and collagist and close friend of abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann. At the tip of Cape Cod, Provincetown is considered America’s first art colony, founded by early American impressionist painters.
Earnest and emotional, Packard’s portrait work is inspired by her responses to the material itself. She complements her painting techniques with elements of wax, tar, and fire to bring a depth of dirtied reality to her beautiful abstract scenes. The artist strives to create with a duality of light and color, of structure and emotion. Packard’s journey as a mother to four (Zach, Silas, Caleb, and Emma) and as a grandmother to one has greatly informed her practice and vise versa, connected under the singular goal of honesty with oneself, and with the world.
Cynthia now teaches intensive workshops at her Provincetown studio, which she has maintained for 30 years. She has taught at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Scottsdale Art School in Arizona, Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) and Castle Hill School of the Arts in Truro, Massachusetts.