Pat Whitehead
Artist Statement 
Nature and environment have always been important in my work. My memories and emotions mirror my recalled surroundings when I am making a painting. I often travel looking for a motif that will transport me to a fresh visual field and make an impact. There are infinite possibilities of new discoveries outside the familiar. And reinterpreting the scene in my studio revives the sounds, smells, and feel of the moment with the added dimension of having had the luxury of time to simmer the images with my recollections.
I have been able to guide the viewer into my scenes and allow them to create their own world based on my experiences. The connection will be personal for each individual based on history and mood. But hopefully, the paining will add a new dimension for memory that will linger.
After almost a decade of immersing myself in the natural world, the "waves" were begun in earnest as a series almost 4 years ago. Slowly, the same progression of visual connection between private viewer and nature overlapped into my 'branches' paintings. Now I have begun to entangle people in the scenes, and move to other venues. I find the soulful stories involving the natural world have taken on a new dimension with this addition. The balance of desire to be alone in your environment or sharing it with others, whether intimate or not, is intriguing for me as an artist, and hopefully for any voyeur that shared the work.
About the Artist
Pat Whitehead was born in New York in 1949. She received her BA in Fine Arts from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia. After a successful career in graphic design, she spent over seven years immersed in her art while living in the Caribbean and traveling extensively in Europe and the United States. Now settled in the low country of South Carolina, she has embarked on a series of natural based abstractions that explore the transition of light.
