Artist’s Bio

In 9th grade, my art teacher, Theresa Hayes, gave our class a painting assignment. At the end of the period, I asked if I could please bring the acrylic paints home. “I’d like to keep working on the painting.” She said, yes, lending me white, black, and the three primary colors. I returned them the following week and she said, “You may keep the paints, Patty. Of all my students, you’re the only one who has wanted to keep painting, and…I believe art is in your future.”

Artist Statement

Over the years I’ve worked with charcoal, pastels, acrylics, and darkroom photography. I felt an immediate shift when I bought myself an iPad and an Apple Pencil…I never looked back. I love the immediacy of using digital painting and collage with my images.

In a typical piece of my art, I present a character that people can look at and add their own narrative. My sense of humor helps me create the characters as well as the titles. That’s what sparks my delight. I get an impulse to develop an idea and I go for it. All my pieces are an invitation to the viewers to interpret their own story. I hope that the viewer will play and laugh with me as they look at my impulsive experiments.

Alternative story

In sixth grade I won a Polaroid Instamatic camera on a 25 cent raffle. I spent my saved up allowance in a roll of film and off I went to Washington, DC on the Safety Patrol trip. I was thrilled. I snapped pictures left and right. I hadn’t considered the concept of standing still while taking pictures. I can still envision my friend, Denise, in her bright orange patrol sash. In the picture, you could see her mod mini skirt, her AAA tee shirt, and her head was cut completely out of the picture. Rough start…but I had to start somewhere on this creative journey.