On display July 14 - August 14, 2021 at www.touchtonegallery.com
Virtual Exhibits Zoom Artist Talk & Opening: Wednesday, July 14, 5 pm EST
RSVP to attend at https://www.touchstonegallery.com/rsvp

“Then and Now” Watercolors by Patricia Williams (virtual)

“All artists have favorites among their own paintings. Our work is, after all, in many respects the story of our life. A particular piece may represent a significant achievement, a happy time, a place that holds meaning or just something we really like. Some paintings, when we see them years later, we don’t even remember painting them. Others stay with us long past the time we have moved on in our work or the painting has found a new home.

The paintings I present here do not comprise a series in the usual sense. The styles are different. The genres are different. The colors don’t necessarily mesh. The thread that binds them is their significance in my life—my first acceptance to a juried show, memories of friends, my first solo show. Working from printed copies, I deconstructed images of the original paintings and put the pieces together again, puzzle-like, another way.  The new images reflect my experiences and growth as an artist since the originals were painted. Some are completely different, others not so far from the original. 

In connecting these pieces, I borrowed from the Japanese Kintsugi practice of repairing broken pottery with an emulsion of precious metal by painting the interstices of the new work with pearlescent gold pigment. These paintings are a lot like life has been in the past eighteen months. Things have been torn apart and put back together again. As with kintsugi vessels, I hope that my paintings and all of our lives will be stronger and more beautiful for being shattered and reconstructed.”

—Patricia Williams 

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Chee Ricketts, who gave me the idea for deconstructing the original paintings; Valerie Bernat, who suggested the kintsugi technique for putting them back together again; Deborah Ellis, who taught me how to paint; Marsha Staiger, who gave me the language to say what I want to say; Steve Fleming, who convinced me to quit putting my paintings under the bed and put them out in public instead; and as always, Andy Williams, who has developed quite the critical eye, is not shy about sharing and is still the cutest little thing I’ve ever seen. 

Then…
Homeowner, 1991, Watercolor on Paper, 10” x 8” unframed, Private Collection—Not for Sale This painting of Jasmine was my first to be accepted into a juried show, The Cat Show at Strathmore Hall in Maryland in 1991. The cat was so proud!

…and Now
Jasmine’s World, 2021, Watercolor on Multimedia Artboard ™, 16” x 20” unframed, $500 Jasmine was the most cat-like of any cat I have ever shared a home with. I often called her the Creature That Owns the Earth, but really, universe is more like it. She loved to explore, and she loved to hide, only to be miffed if you didn’t find her. The world was not her oyster, it was her world, and she didn’t let you forget it.