“Curt” | Oil on Linen | 20x20
"Love is the answer to every question."
Patricia is inspired by hard working artists, fresh air, weather, sunlight, animal sightings, and her desire to share her love for all of it. Her heart can be felt through her words, actions and in her art.
“I love wildlife, I love the wilderness, I love to be inspired, I love to create. This love drives me to educate and contribute to conservation.”
Patricia painting “Aurora” | Oil on Linen | 96x60 | In a collection
Growing up in North East Pennsylvania five minutes from the Delaware River, her Pop Pop would take her for walks in the woods and down to the river. There they would sit for hours waiting for animals to appear. Her experiences with bears, bobcats, coyotes, fisher cats, foxes, raccoons, opossums, porcupines, owls, eagles, grouse, woodcock and numerous other birds became the subjects of her art work starting at age 4. She followed her artistic passion and talent from a young age through school, receiving a Bachelors of Fine Art from Moore College of Art and Design.
"The wild places were my comfort zone then as now. To share a sacred moment with the viewer is my way of showing the respect and honor of my subject.”
Jackson Five | Oil |16x40
Patricia's head and heart are truly geared towards protecting wild things and wild places and inspiring others through her art to do the same. Currently she is participating in a International traveling exhibit (UK-NYC) called “Sketch for Survival” to raise funds for conservation. She donates 10% of her income to conservation efforts including contributing to her local wildlife by supporting the Pocono Wildlife and Education and Rehabilitation Center. She is also honored to be among some of the big names in wildlife art as a Signature Member of Artist For Conservation, Vancouver, BC. The group is dedicated to bringing awareness to conservation with art, education, and funds.
“The chance sighting of an animal gives me a charge that I then translate through paint.”
Patricia is engaged with wildlife in more ways than art and supportive funding and for more than the charismatic megafauna that are often her subjects. She owns and maintains a Brick Church near her home that houses one of the largest documented North Eastern summer nurseries for the Brown Bat. Here upwards of 300 females give birth and raise their young each year. Patricia welcomes students from Penn State University and East Stroudsburg University to come and study the colony.
River Gods | Oil | 48x60
Patricia's Artistic Process
Before Patricia travels, where she often finds her inspiration, she removes all the completed work from a 30' x 40' area in her studio and fills the walls with blank canvases. While she is on the road photographing her subjects, she begins to mentally fill the canvases hanging on the wall back home with her experiences.
“There are times when the moment I see the animal in the frame the image sears into memory and the piece begins to develop.When I return to the studio I begin to paint.”
While traveling she takes thousands of photographs and plein air paints. She has painted like this since she was 19 and is always humbled by the experience, regardless of many years spent in the field brush in hand. Plein air painting is an amazing way to capture the subtleties of atmosphere and space. Setting up her easel outside to paint whats in front of her is a good way to, as Patricia puts it, “get my ass kicked by the beauty of my surroundings.”
Harrison | Oil | 36x60
When she has returned from her travels she will edit the photographs she took and review them again and again. To start a new image she will pull specific ones into a folder and review them until one clicks in her mind. Then she will sketch and play with composition. Using a red or a blue she will sketch the image on a canvas and start to block it in. After this process she lets it sit for a bit so she can return with a fresh eye to see where she may need to tweak it. She puts considerable time and thought into the subject's placement on the canvas because the negative space plays a critical role to the piece's success.
“As I paint I question my color- darker lighter cooler warmer. I have studied color for 30 years and take pleasure out of the vibrations that are created by color placement.”
Plein Air Painting in Grand Teton National Park
Patricia has her pallet table on rollers as well as her paint cart so she can work on multiple images at a time; sometimes 7 days a week for 8-14 hours a day and she loves every minute of it! She rises early with a cup of coffee and gets to her studio as quick as possible and locks herself into her creative space. Starting by working relentlessly on the animal's proportions and composition, once she is satisfied she will paint without reserve to bring life to the painting.
“I view each piece as a self portrait. It is what I see with my eyes, process in my mind, and create with my time that transfers an experience into painting. It is a self portrait of the viewer as well. It is in their eyes, their mind that they experience the painting. Every day bringing something new.”
When you add a Patricia Griffin painting to your collection, you can be certain it is her best work. Uniquely, Patricia gets a panel of people together to review her work. Pieces that are found to be substandard are burned to free her from failures, rejuvenate her artistic spirit, and keep only the best for collectors.
1868 | Oil | Triptych 72x144
Patricia's work has been features in museums across the country. She has won numerous awards for her work and is an active member of many art associations.
