Patricia Lane

Patricia Lane I’ve always loved drawing and painting. As I child I was never happier than when my Dad and I headed off with our sketchbooks to discover something new about the natural world. We’d sit, draw and discuss the view as the colours and textures of nature unfolded before us, and my passion for landscapes was born. Art has played an important part in my life ever since, though sometimes I needed to fit it in the cracks between raising a family and managing a busy career. I’m retired now and my daughters are all grown up so I can fully indulge my passion for creating art. Bliss! For quite a while I worked with watercolour, but seeking a new direction I switched media and concentrated on acrylics, adding all kinds of different materials to bring texture and drama to my work. I also became more experimental with techniques which brought an element of abstraction to my painting style which I love. The inspiration for most of my work is the landscape of the UK and Andalucia in southern Spain, although my finished paintings are not necessarily exact representations of any single place at any one time. My work is far more about the essence of the landscapes that I see. I do record its physical features but what’s really important are the memories evoked by a particular location; atmosphere, colours and textures, weather conditions, how I was feeling when I made the original sketch, who was with me etc. Once I’ve made an initial draft I like to work in my studio, allowing my own personal interpretation of the landscape to flow on to the paper or canvas. Once the original rendering of a subject is done I like to fiddle around and refine it. Often the spontaneous glide of paint or the serendipitous effect of added textures enhances a feature of the landscape which I love to develop, and which brings individuality and vibrancy to my work. El duende is a Spanish term for the spirit of evocation. It comes from inside as a physical/emotional response to art. It’s what gives you chills, what makes you feel as you respond to a performance or work of art. A more loose translation means having soul, a heightened state of emotion, expression and authenticity. This is what I seek to incorporate in my paintings.