The work of Neil Patterson, one of America's finest artists

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

“Painting is a passion,” says Neil Patterson. “A painting can become beautiful only when the artist discovered the passion in himself and gave it a way out. The income generated from art is a bonus, the real pay is that ability to release passion! It is the ability to paint feelings, and not stupid replication, that makes creativity unique, this is especially important for impressionism, because feelings make oil canvases just magical!"

Neil Patterson was born and raised in the small town of Moose Jaw. Since childhood, he wanted to become an artist, once his mother called little Neil and told him: “Remember, you can have anything you want. After all, if you really want something, you will definitely get it. But Moose Jaw didn't have a gallery, so Neil didn't see real paintings until he was 12, when he visited his aunt in Ottawa. She took her nephew to the national art gallery, where his desire to become an artist was urgently revived. Neil immediately bought himself a book, How to Learn to Draw, and studied it diligently on the way home.

Neil Patterson said he still keeps his children's drawings to this day to keep painting. what started. And I think that all artists started with the same, that is, there is no "talent", there are strong desires and nothing else. You can teach anyone to draw if they really want to. It is enough to add to this desire a small part of yourself (many call this soul) and everything will go like clockwork. Although, of course, experience and age also influence the formation of the artist's style."

Neil Patterson's path to fame was not thorny. For several years he worked as an architect (creating blueprints for buildings), even opened his own small firm, although he did not work in it for long. Love for painting pushed Neil to go to study, he entered the University of Fine Arts in Calgary. But, disappointed in the chosen faculty (of course, it was the faculty of painting), Neil moved to the faculty of ceramics. He himself said about it this way: "During all the time I studied, I have never seen a professor holding his brushes, but how can you study to be an artist without constant practice?"

After graduating from university, Neil opened his own art center, he specialized in ceramics. The business was very successful and the artist even opened his own gallery. And it seemed that it would always be like this, but fate decreed otherwise: the artist was diagnosed with chronic tendinitis (because of the turpentine with which they chalked things up while working with ceramics), the doctors forbade him to work with ceramics, because otherwise his palms were taken away would. It was then that Neil Patterson remembered his old hobby - drawing. “Drawing is very similar to sculpting, working with flowers in both areas is also very similar. I like to be a creator, I just put colored spots on the picture until they turn into some kind of subject or plot."

In 1985, Neil got married, his wife did her best to create home comfort, the artist always paints with his children, and he believes that it was this “family” that became the basis of his style. Due to the ban on working with turpentine, Neil uses peanut butter to create paint of the desired consistency, and it is this oil that gives a specific shine and texture to his canvases.

Now Neil Patterson teaches and continues to improve his style, you can see more of his work on the artist's website.