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I have decided to show a mix of things this time... I've been painting for thirty-five years or so and have gone in and out of several subject series. What's being shown is a cross-section and overview of my work.
I find that through the years, my work has changed in several ways, but I am still drawn to many of the same things visually that I was drawn to years ago... rainy streets, blazing sun on sparkling waters, faces, hands, clouds, sky, dappled sunlight dancing on the ground under trees, and more recently, a series of people playing music -- paintings about people expressing feelings.
There is, of course, an endless source of visual beauty, drama and content in our world. For anyone to create a response to even a bit of it, in any way he happens to choose, is a challenge. In any body of work, there is also always the unpaintable, unsingable, words that could never express, dance that could not embrace the immense splendor, depth, sorrow and beauty of life.
I feel strongly that we are in the world, this garden, to work our way toward each other and toward the spirit.
Howard Ashman Patterson, my grandfather, was a wonderful American painter who painted in Philadelphia, Chicago, Santa Fe, Southern France, Paris, Corsica and many places in between. He was a very interesting painter who mixed nuances of color with great care and subtletly, but who also created very strong graphic compositions. He was a truly devoted artist with vision and skill. To this day, his paintings are a constant source of inspiation and wonder for me. My brother, David, is also a devoted painter who lives in Cold Springs, New York, and paints wonderful classical-style paintings of the Hudson River Valley and of his travels.
With my grandfather's paintings around me, with parents very sympathetic to the arts, and with plenty of supplies, I have been painting since I was a little kid. These are some of them.
Michael Patterson
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