Emily Patrick: lost in nature

ON the afternoon of March 1, I walked into a gallery where there was an exhibition of Emily Patrick. Beautiful paintings of flowers, leaves and landscapes were hung on the wall. Brushworks are sketchy, without losing the clarity and delicacy. Colors are gentle and pleasant. Titles are interesting and clever. Going back upstairs, I opened the catalogue on the table. After reading the words written by the artist herself, I was totally drawn to her world.

'On gentle walks, I was able to enter reveries, experiencing more moments of pure beauty and joy than before. I returned wanting to paint pictures that would give my audience moments such as I was having. Then, I though, I would be a great painter. My ambition felt fresh, I walked tall with excitement.

That summer I was eaten up by pictures. The glory of outside driving me to paint on and on. I was trying to catch the ecstatic feeling of lying in grass, lost in the vastness above and around.’

The very beginning of the passage soon grabbed my heart. It reminded me of the many moments of reveries I had experienced in nature. I treasured the feelings so much and I revered the artist who had a real heart for nature and wanted to transfer that ecstatic moment to others through art. It is a true moment of existence, and it is one of the greatest purposes of art.

Writing is a similar way of expression to art. You want to record the exact feeling of the exact moment, but it is a moment that is so spontaneous and true that when it comes down to word, it becomes difficult to retain the same naturalism of feeling and thought, because of the disturbance of other considerations and thoughts. Then it loses the truth, simplicity, and beauty of the original moment. Art seems to be the same, except that the thoughts and feelings are instead expressed through colors and shapes. That is exactly what the artist discusses later in the paragraph, which made me even more excited.

'However, trying to remember that moment of ecstasy can blind you to the subject; an artist’s understanding and sympathy are lost when he thinks about himself. He loses his power to love, celebrate and represent nature...

Looking back over my work, I think that the richest, best paintings are often those that I do in a far more humble state of mind. Sometimes, when all around seems hectic, too much, I withdraw to find comfort and serenity in the intimate scrutiny of a fragment from the natural world, say a beetroot. Focusing completely on the subject allows me to break free and the more I lose myself, the more eloquent the paintwork becomes. The ‘voice’ of the painting can become stronger than the ‘voice’ that I had originally seen and while it may talk of the subject sometimes it also takes to a flight of the spirit.'

I loved the genuine discussion, this self-retrospection into the process of making art, and the pursuit of the perfect transference of beauty to the canvas. I was so interested to know that she found out that a humble mind with less thinking of herself but more of the subject will lead to a better work.

All these have attracted me so much and explain the reasons I want to write for the contemporary artists – to speak on their behalves, to unveil more meaning of their art, and to let more people know about their great attitudes toward art and life.


THE uniqueness of Emily’s art comes from her brushwork and color. Her brushwork is trick, sketchy, and free, reminiscent of Impressionism, but seemingly with more different directions and freedom of strokes. She starts her career as a portraitist. However, her passion for nature and her unique way of expression seem to lead her to more paintings of landscapes and still lives. The loose and sketchy brushwork brings to the painting a good resemblance of the natural atmosphere, which especially suits her depiction of the nature.

Always when I look into her landscape painting, I feel as if I could sense the wind, the flavor, and the freshness of nature through the overlapping of the strokes of different directions, widths, and degrees of the same color. Interestingly, though the general approach is sketchy, in some of the paintings one could still feel the delicacy of grass and leaves, which is so naturalistic and touching that makes me want to stare at them for long time. (Fig. 1)

Fig. 1 Bounding Grass, 2011 (Oil and Tempera on Panel 81.5 x 61cm)
Copyright © 2013 Emily Patrick

Strokes are bold, whereas the color of her art is usually soft and pastel. Even the bright colors bring a feeling of tenderness. Putting the brushwork and the color together, her paintings render a free and gentle touch. Both boldness and softness of the heart of the artist could be sensed. For me, the paintings are not just a general impression of reality; instead, they are true recording of natural scenes and feelings in a freely executed way.

Emily not only falls for the beauty of nature, but also embraces the wildness and even dirt in nature. She cares about the current situation of the natural environment, expressing her concern that 'it feels as though every surviving inch of the antique outside is to be destroyed'. Her landscapes record the surviving pieces of nature that has become less and less in a modern world.

The color combination of some of her still life paintings is brilliant, especially those set against a wall. The color of the flowers and the color of the wall form a harmonious contrast. You will feel that it is not simply a copy of life, but a rearrangement and recreation of beauty in life. (Fig. 2)

Fig. 2 Anemones and Blue Wall, 2010 (Oil and Tempera on Panel 60.9 x 60.9cm)
Copyright © 2013 Emily Patrick

The meeting of the inside and outside lives is a recurring and interesting idea. Against the window, the plant inside always has translucent quality with the help of the sunlight. The sunlight, shining through the leaves, makes them transparent and brilliant, and the color is very vibrant, as if the real plant and sunlight are in front of your eyes. The branches outside the window leaning toward the inside, through loose brushworks, seem to bring with them the wind and sunlight to greet the pants inside, as if they couldn’t wait to bring the freshness and vitality to their friend. It is like a moment of communication, a communication of the different life experience inside and outside. It is a moment of resuming new life. (Fig. 3)

Fig. 3 Annunciation, 2011 (Oil and Tempera on Panel 91.3 x 81.6cm)
Copyright © 2013 Emily Patrick

Some meeting happens in a different form. The plan to come inside of the outside plants seems to be stopped by the window, which is in contrast of the tranquil scene inside. However, the plants outside do not give up their efforts. The splashes of the bright colors onto the window well reveal their ambition and vitality. (Fig. 4)

Fig. 4 Inside and Outside, 2001 (Oil on Panel 76 x 60 cm)
Copyright © 2013 Emily Patrick

Some of the foliage in still life and landscape paintings is especially vibrant, because of the curves, sways and even twists of the flowers, leaves and branches, some even folding down to the table or ground. It reminds me of Van Gogh’s plants, similarly tortuous and full of vitality, though it also looks like a kind of struggling. This vibrancy goes well with her bold brushwork. (Fig. 5)

Fig. 5 Tulip field, 1999 (Oil on Panel 60 x 40 cm)
Copyright © 2013 Emily Patrick

I tend to like the depiction of textile in her interior painting a lot, maybe because it is a subject less depicted in its own right, but more likely because of the special way of painting that has been applied to the depiction of the clothes. The sketchy brushworks with different length and thickness render a very unique effect of the texture, as if the clothes are crumpled and are as crisp as tinfoil. The effect, different than the original texture of the material, presents a unique beauty of the subject. (Fig. 6)

Fig. 6 Stripy Dress on Chair, 2003 (Tempera on Panel 72 x 41 cm)
Copyright © 2013 Emily Patrick

Another thing that interests me a lot is the title. Some of the titles are given by artist. Others are collaborative creation by the artist and her husband. Most titles are direct and simple, but some are very interesting and creative. For instance, the title ‘Annunciation’ (Fig. 2) is given by her husband as the branches coming into the room reminds him of the angel Gabriel who annunciates the coming of Jesus to Mary. I especially like the title ‘From Autumn to Pacific’ (Fig. 7), which refers the normal objects to something much grander in terms of time and space, revealing the breadth of the creator’s heart. The titles show the simplicity, humor and wisdom of the couple.

Fig. 7 From Autumn to the Pacific, 2011 (Oil and Tempera on Panel 86.5 x 61cm)
Copyright © 2013 Emily Patrick

ALTHOUGH the artist has not written many words regarding her works, almost every little piece of words that the artist writes has something unusual and inspiring in it. Unlike some other contemporary artists who intend to express creative or critical ideas through innovative or bizarre approaches, Emily 'feels no need to shout or seek for novelty', but sensitively 'responds with natural intuition', and pursues the art that is 'bound up with the good', is 'rooted in kindness which is akin to wisdom, even closer to love'. 'It is the spirit of tenderness that I chase’'she says, and she hopes that art could 'trigger man’s senses to rise up onto a higher spiritual plain'.

Her words are calm, retrospective, and sincere. Reading through it is like looking into the life she lives every day. It is as if you could see a woman wandering about agreeably in her nice home and the natural surroundings nearby. There is always a gentle smile on her face. She gazes at every little beauty in her life, vegetables and plants, toys and animals, clouds and sky. She feels them sympathetically and touches them tenderly. She walks in the serenity of the nature, breathing in the freshness of the air, embracing the vastness of the space, and feeling the ecstasy in her heart. She carefully collects all her feelings and brings them onto canvas through another round of meditation.

'Painting', to her, 'is an opportunity to offer people a different energy. Human nature feeds on gentle beauty; peace, tenderness, delicacy, complex colours and touch, the randomness of nature, the tolerance of dirt.' That is what one could feel through her paintings and it brings to us not only beauty and kindness, but also the reflection on ourselves and the world around us.


Notes: Pictures and quotations of the artists' words are from the artist's website: http://www.emilypatrick.com/show.php