Elizabeth Patterson
Bio: I’ve been an artist ever since I was a little kid. Art was always my favorite subject in elementary and high school, I adored the art classes I took in the summer and the teacher who encouraged me, and I still have pages and pages of class notes covered in doodles and notebooks peppered with ideas for paintings and art collections. In college, although I graduated with a “respectable” major (history), I took as many art classes as I could and graduated with a minor in Studio Art. It’s always been easier for me to use pen and paper or paintbrush and canvas to express myself, but it wasn’t until my mom passed away in 2014 that I took the leap from my office cubicle to pursue life on my terms. Art enables me to say what words can’t, and my art is an extension of myself, while the process itself is an exploration of my thoughts and feeling, a form of therapy and catharsis.
Artist Statement: Artist Statement: I have two main focuses within my art – portraiture and bold, conceptual pieces created from the overflow of my emotions and convictions. My portraits range from pen and ink drawings on paper to large oil paintings on canvas, depending on the project. The more conceptual pieces are mostly oil on canvas, which allows me to translate the intensity of emotion appropriate for each piece, both with thicker layers of paint and also bolder, more striking colors. With both focuses the goal is to capture people and moments that reveal more of my heart and the hearts of those who commission the art.
Above all that, though, is that I want my art to be as GAY as possible. Representation for the LGBTQ+ community is so, so important, and as a lesbian who didn’t realize she was gay until later in life, I want to give everyone the representation I desperately needed when I was younger.
Morning Light
3' x 2'
Oil