Patricia Lawton:Working with light and magic

'I Will Follow You Forever' by Patricia Lawton, of Vernon, BC, is another of her signature works.

It has a rather existential quality about it. That could be because Patricia enjoys painting pictures which tell a story. But, the truth is - the viewer has to engage with her pictures and to contribute something of themselves to them. In this sense there is a dialogue between Patricia and the viewers of her work.

On the surface, we see a girl, and a dog, sitting in a garden. But when we look closely it looks like its frozen in time.  The dog sits immobile, looking at a girl whose hair is caught by a gust of wind. The girl's face is turned towards the dog and away from the viewer.

I like the way Patricia works with light. The dog is dark and the girl is light and this combined with her position in front of the dog, makes her the dominant centre of attention.

Patricia, paints the girl ever so gracefully, and ever so simply. There are no superfluous lines, save for those in her blowing hair. Look at the arm which she leans on.  There is an absence of muscle tension and shadowing. Look at the the economy of lines on her slacks. This creates a sense of grace. Notice too, how Patricia has outlined parts of the girl in an illuminating mauve line. Altogether, there is a sense of mystery about the girl. There is a sense that the scene is frozen in time and development. I find myself thinking that its all a dream and that she has emerged out of a place of memory and has returned to life.

Patricia is one of the best there is in her artful use of light. When I look at the girls slacks and sweater I see a certain luminescent quality. Notice how the writing on the girl's sweater has the same mauve has the same mauve hue that Patricia uses to outline the girl's white sweater. There's nothing like the blues to make your whites, whiter then white. And, if you want to see the power of lumiscence - look at the shaded area on the girls' hip.  Here you see the drama of orange-tan tones, white and a blue blend that absolutely radiates light even though its captured in shade.   You are seeing a brilliantly crafted work.

I am drawn too,to the dog's woolly coat with its soft texture carefully defining by its bunches of fur - even into the shadowed areas. And, finally, I like the way she captures highlights and tones of colour in the girls hair in the sunlight.

Although Patricia painted this in acrylic, it has the fluidity of watercolour style. This contributes to the subject's overall simplicity which in turn contributes to the dream like quality of the scene.

Its not hard to see why  Patricia Lawton is high on my personal list of favourite artists.

Artist's Comments

My feeling when I studied  Rachel and Bella (pooch) was how confident Rachel was around this big dog........  and how happy Bella was to be out in the wind and sunshine with a playmate.  After they’d had a good play and run-around,  they settled down to letting me take a lot of photos.  I happily snapped away and I could feel the ‘joy’ in Bella.........  the exuberance and a kind of ‘giddiness’ .........  a desire to break lose and frolic all around the garden again.  But she kept herself under ‘excited control’ because I asked her. 

These feelings came back to me........  and the feel of the sun on my head and face ........  the summery breeze;  all the sensations that I’d originally felt the day of Bella and Rachel posing;   12 years had passed from that day until the day I brought them back to life on my canvas.

Painting Standard Poodles is so very rewarding.  Their sleek bodies seem packed with electric energy and they just quiver with happiness.  Also their beautiful, sensitive faces project their thoughts and desires...........  Just look into their eyes........  If only they could speak....  The intelligence beams forth.

When I paint ‘sunny scenes’ I tend to feel those colours we see behind our closed eyelids on a bright sun-filled day.  The yellows, reds, blues and the mauves, oranges and greens that come with overlapping the transparent paints just lend themselves to the feeling of summer.  As I go along,  the painting dictates to me where it wants to go. 

Patricia Lawton, Okanagan Artist.

Patricia was born and raised in Powell River B.C. She was an orphan from age 3 weeks and was raised by her paternal grandparents who had no interest or understanding of her desire to draw and paint through her growing years. Patricia was fascinated by people, boats, and the ocean, where she spent many hours playing alone and carving small boats from driftwood; and sketching shells and whatever else the sea washed up. She left Powell River at age 17 and married a commercial fisherman, who she accompanied on trips north along the B.C, coast and up to the Queen Charlotte Islands. This whetted her appetite to draw and paint the totems she found in the small fishing villages and also imbued her with a love for our beautiful coastline.

Patricia raised two children in the Vancouver area and married again, to Peter Lawton. She had a career in Commercial Art, having taught herself by studying the Fashion drawings in The New York Times and other large city publications. She was the first person to teach Fashion Illustration in Vancouver, teaching for The Vancouver School of Art..... (now Emily Carr). She also was the Advertising Manager for Saba's Women's Dept. Store in Vancouver, then Shaino's Leather Wear (38 stores across Canada and the USA) and Ford Fair, Guildford, doing all the artwork and copy for newspaper and magazine ads. Patricia worked in the Art Department of the Vancouver Sun for a short time before accepting a teaching position in Bella Bella as art teacher from grades six to twelve.

In 1970, she was accepted as an active member in the Federation of Canadian Artists.

Patricia and Peter moved to Vernon in 1984 where she volunteered at the Topham Brown Art Gallery and accepted (reluctantly) the position as manager of the small gallery for one year only. At this time she founded the Midsummer Eve of the Arts and each year she has gladly donated two original works.

She taught for OUC for twelve years.

From 1986 Patricia has traveled throughout the province's small towns; Bella Bella, Kitimat, Kemano, Prince Rupert, Powell River, MacKenzie, Prince George, Quesnel, Armstrong, Salmon Arm (Summer School of the Arts) and in May 1009 she will be in Revelstoke; giving workshops and having Art Shows in all of these locations.

She has had over 25 solo shows in Vernon alone....... Two for Winter Carnival. Patricia has participated in group shows in Seattle; Vancouver; Calgary; San Diego, Ajijic, Mexico, as well as Vernon, Armstrong and Salmon Arm. Her works have been accepted and published by the Prestigious "San Diego Watercolour Society" as well as the "US National Watercolor Society".

In 1997 Patricia moved temporarily to Ajijic, Mexico where she had one solo show and entered (upon request) a group show of artists from the area and California, etc. She took the top three awards.

She was invited to enter Foss Tugboat's (Seattle) Calendar Contest (entrants on invitation only) and took Honorable Mention the three years she entered. Her paintings were purchased by the company.

Patricia has had articles in Okanagan Life and she won Best Artist of the Okanagan award in 2000. She has been written up in B.C. Women and in The B.C Cattlemen's magazine and is published in the Okanagan's "Artist's in the Sun".

A number of years ago, Patricia knew the Vernon Jubilee Hospital was needing a CAT Scan and she promoted this and held an Art Auction....... Getting much needed publicity from CHBC and CBC radio as well as all the area's newspapers and radio stations........ A committee was formed and the needed one mil. was raised within the year. Patricia sat on the Board of the hospital's foundation for five years.

She became involved in the major fund-raising for Vernon's Transition House. Also is now fund-raising for Vernon's Hospice House and has been working 'non-stop' on paintings for the past two years towards an exhibition in November of 2009.

Patricia has done hundreds of family commissions including portraits of pets, cattle, horses, boats as well as people in the Okanagan, throughout B.C. and Alberta.

After having a solo show in Salmon Arm for the B.C. Cattlemen's Society, she received a commission from the World's Cattlemen Society to paint the five top Charolais cattle to be presented in 2007 to the World's Champion Charolais.

In 2008 Patricia received a request to purchase her Brahma Bull painting from Blackrock Investors in N.Y.C.

She has paintings hanging in Tachibana University in Kyoto, Japan, in corporations and private collections in Australia, the US, Ireland, England, Mexico, Argentina, Japan and Canada.

Patricia has been on the jury committee every May for the "Okanagan Region Secondary School Scholarship Awards" since the awards began.

Patricia belongs to no Art Societies and has never asked for an Art Grant. She is a very private person and hangs in no galleries at this time. She does not have a webpage. She continues to paint daily in her home studio.