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One of nine children, Phyllis Adams was born in Boston, and except for a few years on the west coast has lived most of her life in New England. She spent her childhood summers in Westport, MA, a pristine coastal town, and moved back to the area several years ago.
Her first memory of painting is of the excitement she felt standing in front of her mother’s easel and painting a small still life that was set up. From there, she was hooked. She loved everything about it from the smell of the paint to the feel of the canvas.

Although Phyllis' passion has always been art, her career took a different path. Along with being a mother of three sons, she worked for over ten years as a computer software manager at Lotus Corporation and IBM in Cambridge.

After leaving the industry she threw herself into art, and now paints full-time. When the weather permits, she enjoys painting outside. In the summer she takes her small Boston Whaler, along with a dog or two, out on the Westport River. She pulls up to a sandbar and sets up her easel to paint, taking a break to take a dip now and then. Those summer days give her the chance to combine her two favorite activities: painting and swimming.

Phyllis' art evokes the natural beauty of coastal New England. Its ocean, beaches, and wild life are sources of constant inspiration. She strives to pare down and find the essence of her subject matter by abstracting shapes and exaggerating color. Color and shape is a language she uses to express feeling, mood and impressions of places and things. To Phyllis, straddling the edge of realism and abstraction is the most exciting and challenging aspect of her art.