Pamela Thompson Sinkler Todd, noted Philadelphia artist and mother of four, passed peacefully at age 87, on December 18, 2025, in Philadelphia.
Pamela was a successful artist, loving mother and generous friend, whose creative spirit and sense of fun enriched many lives.
Born in Athens, Greece, to prominent archaeologists Dorothy Burr Thomson and Homer Thompson, Pamela came from diverse roots. Her father was the son of a Canadian dairy farmer; her mother, the daughter of Philadelphia society author Anna Robeson Brown Burr.
Pamela spent her early years in Toronto, Canada. She fell in love with horses on her grandmother's farm, becoming a skilled equestrian. Sadly, despite having an ideal jockey stature (a proud 4 foot 11 inches "and 3/4!"), her dream career was closed to women at that time. However, filling her schoolbooks with drawings of horses honed an artistic talent which, encouraged by her beloved aunt and namesake Pamela Burr and perceptive teachers, led to a lifelong career.
In 1947, when her father was invited to join the permanent staff of the Institute for Advanced Study, the family relocated to Princeton, NJ, where Pamela attended Miss Fine's School with her older twin sisters.
Whilst married to S Deas Sinkler III, Pamela first formally studied art at the Burnley School of Advertising Art in Seattle in 1959. The 1960s were spent raising children in Washington, Ohio and Indiana. In 1972, as a newly single mother of four in the Philadelphia suburbs, she returned to Bryn Mawr College to complete her degree in art history, where she studied intaglio etching with Fritz Janschka, a founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.
In the early 1970s, inspired by her love of fine food, Pamela founded Gourmet Graphics, producing innovative decorative prints with edible themes. By etching images in fine detail into zinc plates, cutting them out with an handheld jigsaw, and hand-printing them in myriad colors and arrangements, Pamela created a variety of distinctive, whimsically titled works. With success she also launched a line called Shoreline Graphics, featuring shells, fish and shellfish. The latter became a fixture along the Jersey Shore, where her work still adorns restaurants and homes.
In the 1980s, study with Carolyn Howard and Elizabeth Osborne ushered in her next artistic period, in watercolor, producing large-scale floral still lifes noted for their attention to the reflections and refractions in glass vases. During this period she shared her life with Donn G. Todd, with whom she enjoyed travel and sailing.
Finally, in the early 2000s, Pamela fulfilled a long ambition to work in oils, creating intimate cityscapes and everyday life interiors. She was captivated by geometries, tonal contrast and the beauty in everyday objects like crossing powerlines and a bank of light switches. Pamela's rendering of light and shade in a vacant lot - 'South Front Street and Lombard' - won Best Landscape at a Philadelphia Sketch Club Spring Oil Show.
Pamela exhibited widely—from Maine to Australia—including at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Woodmere Art Museum, Rittenhouse Square Art Annual and Wayne Art Center, and in solo shows at Newman Galleries, Bryn Mawr, and William Ris Galleries, Stone Harbor. She also illustrated books, textiles and logos, including for the Head House Conservancy in Society Hill. Pamela was active in the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and a signature member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Club.
Pamela's passionate interest in American history led her to serve on the Historical Preservation Committee of the Society Hill Civic Association and volunteer as a Carpenters' Hall docent. Like her mother, she had an exceptionally green thumb, tending her beloved borders and houseplants with the same care she gave her art.
Pamela was best known for her warmth and laughter, her perception of art in everything around her and a playful mischievous streak. As a teen, she and a friend skipped school to canter their horses through the grounds of the local private boys' school. She also never met a spare cardboard box or tote bag that she didn't absolutely adore. Her love and enthusiasm will be greatly missed.
Pamela is survived by her four children Scott, McKean, Paige and Frazier; four grandchildren; and her sisters, Hope and Hilary.
A memorial service will be held in Spring 2026. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA.
Pamela was a successful artist, loving mother and generous friend, whose creative spirit and sense of fun enriched many lives.
Born in Athens, Greece, to prominent archaeologists Dorothy Burr Thomson and Homer Thompson, Pamela came from diverse roots. Her father was the son of a Canadian dairy farmer; her mother, the daughter of Philadelphia society author Anna Robeson Brown Burr.
Pamela spent her early years in Toronto, Canada. She fell in love with horses on her grandmother's farm, becoming a skilled equestrian. Sadly, despite having an ideal jockey stature (a proud 4 foot 11 inches "and 3/4!"), her dream career was closed to women at that time. However, filling her schoolbooks with drawings of horses honed an artistic talent which, encouraged by her beloved aunt and namesake Pamela Burr and perceptive teachers, led to a lifelong career.
In 1947, when her father was invited to join the permanent staff of the Institute for Advanced Study, the family relocated to Princeton, NJ, where Pamela attended Miss Fine's School with her older twin sisters.
Whilst married to S Deas Sinkler III, Pamela first formally studied art at the Burnley School of Advertising Art in Seattle in 1959. The 1960s were spent raising children in Washington, Ohio and Indiana. In 1972, as a newly single mother of four in the Philadelphia suburbs, she returned to Bryn Mawr College to complete her degree in art history, where she studied intaglio etching with Fritz Janschka, a founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.
In the early 1970s, inspired by her love of fine food, Pamela founded Gourmet Graphics, producing innovative decorative prints with edible themes. By etching images in fine detail into zinc plates, cutting them out with an handheld jigsaw, and hand-printing them in myriad colors and arrangements, Pamela created a variety of distinctive, whimsically titled works. With success she also launched a line called Shoreline Graphics, featuring shells, fish and shellfish. The latter became a fixture along the Jersey Shore, where her work still adorns restaurants and homes.
In the 1980s, study with Carolyn Howard and Elizabeth Osborne ushered in her next artistic period, in watercolor, producing large-scale floral still lifes noted for their attention to the reflections and refractions in glass vases. During this period she shared her life with Donn G. Todd, with whom she enjoyed travel and sailing.
Finally, in the early 2000s, Pamela fulfilled a long ambition to work in oils, creating intimate cityscapes and everyday life interiors. She was captivated by geometries, tonal contrast and the beauty in everyday objects like crossing powerlines and a bank of light switches. Pamela's rendering of light and shade in a vacant lot - 'South Front Street and Lombard' - won Best Landscape at a Philadelphia Sketch Club Spring Oil Show.
Pamela exhibited widely—from Maine to Australia—including at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Woodmere Art Museum, Rittenhouse Square Art Annual and Wayne Art Center, and in solo shows at Newman Galleries, Bryn Mawr, and William Ris Galleries, Stone Harbor. She also illustrated books, textiles and logos, including for the Head House Conservancy in Society Hill. Pamela was active in the Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and a signature member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Club.
Pamela's passionate interest in American history led her to serve on the Historical Preservation Committee of the Society Hill Civic Association and volunteer as a Carpenters' Hall docent. Like her mother, she had an exceptionally green thumb, tending her beloved borders and houseplants with the same care she gave her art.
Pamela was best known for her warmth and laughter, her perception of art in everything around her and a playful mischievous streak. As a teen, she and a friend skipped school to canter their horses through the grounds of the local private boys' school. She also never met a spare cardboard box or tote bag that she didn't absolutely adore. Her love and enthusiasm will be greatly missed.
Pamela is survived by her four children Scott, McKean, Paige and Frazier; four grandchildren; and her sisters, Hope and Hilary.
A memorial service will be held in Spring 2026. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, PA.
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