Florida Artists Group

Artist’s Statement and Biography:

“Painting is a personal language. Each work, abstract or representational, is an emotional response that comes from the total of my individual life experiences. Viewers interpret the work based on their own memories and feelings, giving it added meaning.”

Patton was awarded Third Place in Watercolor Artists’ Magazine February 2013 issue featuring their annual Watermedia Showcase and will be published as the Silver Award Winner in ShowArt6 for 2013.

In 2012, she was featured on the cover of the international publication, Art and Beyond, for her painting, “Above and Below”, and again, in a later issue featuring emerging artists in America.

On View, a magazine for museums, galleries and artists in Florida, published her article in a 2012 issue on the inspiration and development of her art career.

From more than 3,300 competitors, Patton was voted one of the “Top Ten Artists Over 60” in The Artist’s Magazine national competition in March 2011 and was one of ten among “Ones to Watch” introduced by Watercolor Magazine in their December 2011 issue.

She lives and works in her loft studio/gallery in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, named three years running as best mid-sized city for the cultural arts in the United States.

She attended Newcomb College of Tulane University and graduated with a degree in Journalism and Communications from the University of Georgia.

After a career in journalism and public relations, she began her art studies in 1993. Although basically self-taught, Patton studied with the late, renowned artist Marjorie Dean Andruk for six years, worked in Ringling Art Institute workshops with artist Charles Reid, and in numerous workshops with master artists Janet Rogers, Steve Rogers, Carla O’Connor, Mary Alice Braukman and many other top instructors.

She has studied in art workshops in Greece, France, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Mexico, and continues to study and experiment with various media.

Patton served on the search committees of the Pinellas County Arts Council in commissioning the work of Christopher Still for the Pinellas County courthouse murals and served as juror for the Pinellas County School system’s annual art exhibit for elementary school students, Sarasota Arts Center members competition as well as exhibits at Beach Art Center in Indian Rocks Beach and Suntan Arts Center on St. Pete Beach.

She accepted a position on the art faculty of the University of South Florida in its Lifelong Learning program and taught at the St. Petersburg campus for two years before leaving St. Petersburg to cruise the Caribbean and the west coast of Europe, the British Isles, and Ireland for two years as first mate on a 43-ft. sailboat.
Throughout the cruise, she compiled reference photographs for studio paintings and painted and sketched the people and scenes of various ports and surroundings.

She has taught painting for The Morean Arts Center, Suntan Arts Center, University of South Florida and in private classes for 18 years in the Tampa Bay community.

Patton is a charter member of one of the first artist groups online, Art Faces/Art Places , and currently exhibits work at pattonhunter.com, AFAP.com, Fine Art America, the Saatchi Gallery online, Acquire Art Worldwide, and several linked sites.

Memberships:

Florida Artists Group (FLAG) Signature Member, Florida Watercolor Society Member; member, National Watercolor Society and American Watercolor Society; Signature Member, International Association of Acrylic Painters; Signature Member, isAp, Florida.

Some Awards:

Featured national Third Place Winner in Watercolor Artists’ Magazine’s “Watermedia Showcase”, 2013: Silver Award Winner in International competition for ShowArt6, 2013 issue; Featured Artist, On View Magazine Featured artist, Art and Beyond Magazine, 2012 Cover, Art and Beyond Magazine, 2012 “Top Ten Artists Over 60”, Artist’s Magazine, March 2011 “Ones to Watch”, Watercolor Magazine, December 2011 First Place, The Juried Art Show 2008, Studio @620 Pasadena ArtSpring annual exhibit:Best of Show, First Place Beach Art Center Transparent Watercolor Exhibit: First Place Suncoast Watercolor Society: First Place, Second Place, Third Place Hyde Park Realistic Artist Group: Second Place; The Morean Arts Center of St. Petersburg: Award of Distinction Florida Society of Acrylic Painters: Award of Distinction Florida Watercolor Society annual exhibit: Arches Paper Award, Artist Magazine Award

Solo Exhibits:

Temple Beth-El Arts Festival
2011 Mainsail Arts Festival, St. Petersburg
2011 Blue Dahlia Gallery, Clearwater
2011 Eckerd College, ASPEC exhibit
2009 Artists Gallery Royale
2006 Hunter Studio, open studio events,
2008, 2009, 2010 Salon 30
The Morean Arts Center
Mahaffey Theater Gallery, 2000