In the Gallery -- June 2009

Dynamic Duo in the Gallery for June
For most of her life, PAT MYERS PARIS has had a passion for detail that has only intensified with the passage of time. When she is dissatisfied with one of her drawings and needs a little something extra, her passion for detail clicks in and she is able to define a whole new texture or use waves of light to inject new drama into her piece. After successfully investigating several other art mediums, Pat became enamored with the powerful potential of using charcoal and pencil in the creation of her exquisitely detailed images. She prefers to start with something that is already outrageous then pushes it to the limits until it is almost "microscopic"! Since these adventures are so labor intensive, (up to two hundred hours each), there is always the risk of getting "too much of a good thing"! The payoff for all these hours of work comes during the photographic and enlargement process when she begins to "see" things she didn't even realize were there. "It has to be magic", she says. Pat finds herself in love with the whole wonderfully stimulating process of being emotionally gratified, soothed and excited by the masterful drama found in her work. Her fondest hope is to continue to improve with age, just like a fine wine! Pat is an active part of Thorntown's Sugar Creek Art Center, home to over 40 working artists. She is also taking classes from a very talented and well known artist, Bill Pattison, who recently completed a film special for PBS. The creative learning opportunities available are endless.

Friend and fellow-artist KATHLEEN NORTON is comfortably fluent and masterful in many mediums which include drawing, watercolor, oil painting, photography and one-of-a-kind pieces of handmade jewelry. Kathleen has been interested in art as long as she can remember. Growing up she was never without a crayon, pencil or needle and thread in her hands. She remembers being fascinated by coloring books and paper dolls. Betsy, the paper doll from McCall's Magazine, received new clothing and accessories from the magazine every month along with the designs Kathleen created for her. In junior high, she began making her own clothes. When high school rolled around she designed her prom dresses and later, her wedding dress. After high school, Kathleen earned a bachelor's degree in Fashion Design and Business from Woodbury University, an art and business college in Los Angeles, California. After graduation, she was a designer for a sportswear-manufacturing firm. It was the life she had always dreamed of; spending her days sketching and buying fabric samples, submitting designs to the pattern department and seeing the finished garment ready for purchase. When her husband's job brought the family to Crawfordsville, marriage and three daughters became her priority. Personal artistic endeavors were put on the back burner for later. As the children grew more independent, and time permitted, Kathleen completed classes in Fine Arts at Purdue University which enabled her to explore even more new areas of art. As a self-taught artist Kathleen has relished inspiring teachers who came her way; Pat Fay, her first watercolor teacher and Pat Paris, a relaxed pencil artist who helped her fine tune her drawing skills. During this time Pat and Kathleen partnered in teaching adults and home school students multi media art at Campbell's on Main. Kathleen has traveled in the US, Italy, and Provence, France. She discovered that photographing what she was experiencing would provide a "hard copy" memory which she could enjoy later and perhaps use as a theme for her work. Kathleen's studio is located in Thorntown, Indiana's Sugar Creek Art Center where you will find more of her paintings, photography and her line of jewelry.