Pat grew up in the small town of Wilmington, Illinois and always loved to draw. She started by designing clothes for paper dolls and copying faces from Draw Me pictures in magazines. In junior high she took lessons from a local artist and did an oil landscape which she later gave to her parents as a Christ-mas gift. After high school she went on to Illinois State Normal University where she earned a degree in Art Education.
Pat has had several careers over the years, including art teacher in Illinois and Guam, home day-care owner, and administrative assistant, all while being the mother to four children and wife to husband, Larry. She also found time to take art classes and workshops in jewelry making, weaving, pottery, life drawing, painting, and more.
Pat retired in 2002 from her position as Human Resources Administrative Assistant at the Amoco Chemical Company (BP) in Joliet. Illinois. The following year she and her husband moved to Sun City where she began working as a substitute teacher a few years later for the Peoria school district and then as a caregiver through an agency.
Pat loves all art media. Currently she is working with acrylics and her favorite subjects are people (portraits and figures) and enjoys loose watercolor techniques of artists like Charles Reid. At Palo Verde she has taken many classes and workshops, but her favorite activity has always been drawing from live models on Thursday afternoon with the portrait group. She has won many rib-bons at the Sun City and Palo Verde Art Shows.
Pat also enjoys traveling, camping, painting rocks, working puzzles, taking walks, playing piano, watching movies, visiting family, and entertaining friends. She and her husband have visited Ja-pan, Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.
Pat’s advice to aspiring artists is to take classes in drawing as it is foundational to learning to paint.