I am a visual artist, naturalist and gardener. My imagery is landscape and nature based and begins with observation. I use my sketchbook journals, my photography and plein air sketches as field work to inform larger paintings in my studio. My strong colour palette is a direct influence of my homeland, Pakistan, where I spent my formative years before immigrating, as a young adult to Ontario, Canada.
As an immigrant and the oldest sibling, I needed to work full-time in order to help my family and get through the first years in the new country. I knew I wanted to make art seriously, and was finally able to attend the Ontario College of Art and Design as a mature student in my 30’s. While I attended the 4 year Fine Art Program I continued to work full-time. A few years after graduating, a was able to devote time to my art and work part-time at my 9 to 5 job, and took advantage of this time to attend the Central Technical School of Art, Toronto. This 3 year program allowed me to get a solid foundation in the technical side of all art mediums.
When I started exhibiting, my paintings were oils on large canvas. My work drew heavily on my dreams, with animals and birds in magic realism landscapes. Just as my career path responded to the necessities of my life, so has my work evolved with where I make it. Very recently, after downsizing and moving into a small studio, (this coincided quite by accident during the Covid Pandemic in early 2020), I have shifted to working on paper with watercolour and ink and adopted a more illustrative style, grounded in the sights beyond my windows and the immediacy of my everyday experience, which I visually record in my sketchbooks
I can be found working my studio, and in the warmer seasons, in my garden, immersed in the healing and generative capacity of the arts and nature. My work can be seen in cafés and galleries in Owen Sound, as well on my website. I am active on Social Media, which is a good way to stay current with my work.
To arrange a studio visit please DM on any of my social media sites below, or email me: pattiwaterfieldart@gmail.com
Website: https://www.pattiwaterfield.com
Instagram: http://instagram@pattiwaterfieldart
