Bio
Patricia Benson is a professional East Bay artist, working and teaching oil and acrylic painting out of her Pleasanton studio.
She has had the privilege to study with noted Impressionist Jean Henry, Miniaturist Barbara Stanton and has also studied painting and drawing with esteemed instructor Bill Paskewitz at Las Positas College.
Patricia has exhibited at Wente Winery, Livermore Art Gallery, Ryan Fine Art Gallery, Worthington Gallery West, as well as other venues.
Statement
I find flowers endlessly intriguing.
I like to look at them, inhale their fragrance, and grow them in my garden. I take my camera on nature walks, jaunts through my neighborhood and to local nurseries. I use my photographs as original reference for all of my paintings. When deciding what to paint, I look for dynamic shapes and colors often cropping the flower for interesting composition.
My actual painting process is an intensive study of identifying the many colors, shapes and textures that might escape notice on the casual glance. I spend a lot of time searching for hidden colors in the shadows and the light, inspecting each nook and cranny of the flower’s subtle beauty often exaggerating its unique detail.
I feel a sense of contentment and joy after having spent significant time and intimacy with my subject. I hope that my work sparks intrigue in you for nature’s creative beauty, the flower.