NEIL PATTERSON

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"Lake Minnewanka"

Neil Patterson, "Lake Minnewanka," 1981, oil on canvas, 13.25" x 19.75".

NEIL PATTERSON

By Jennifer MacLeod

Neil Patterson is a decisive painter. Each landscape is an act of bold and generous expression in which colour is a liberating force. Pushing the colours in his paintings beyond what people typically see in the landscape opens their eyes, Patterson says. The next time they venture out, they begin to perceive more colours in nature. Patterson uses oils straight out of the tube - vibrant, rich and thick - which he mixes and builds directly on the canvas creating textural dimensions that catch light and create shadow. But technique flows from emotion. "There must be passion," Patterson has written. "Painting is not merely a reproduction: it must speak to the heart and soul. It is the quality of passion that is of primary importance." 

Based in Bragg Creek, Alberta, Patterson has an impressive resume of awards and memberships. One highlight was becoming the first Canadian awarded Signature membership in the Oil Painters of America (O.P.A.); in March 2000, he became the 34th Master Signature Member. A solo show of new works by Patterson opens September 20, 2003 at Canada House Gallery in Banff.