Collection: Lorna Patrick Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Lorna Patrick is an established realist artist whose meticulously detailed oil paintings glow with extraordinary light. Coastal landscapes of Carmel and Big Sur are her current focus. Raised on both the east and west coasts, Lorna Patrick has found inspiration in many locales since the early age of 12 when she began oil painting. An early Cape Cod series with weathered cottages and colorful flowers is reminiscent of the artist's youthful boat trips to the charming islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Her move to New Mexico at age 21 resulted in a large collection of Southwest art which sold in Santa Fe galleries or by commission. All of her landscapes, architecture, and portraits demonstrate her highly skilled handling of light and shadow. This includes a portrait which Lorna Patrick won first prize in the state and the "most popular painting" award.

Lorna Patrick began teaching art at the Albuquerque Institute of Fine Art at the age of 23. After having explored the dramatic Southwest light for many years, Lorna Patrick ventured to California where she was discovered by the major art publisher, Martin Lawrence Limited Editions. They published her Southwest art in the form of signed, limited edition serigraphs which sell worldwide. Her first show with them resulted in a sell-out of all of her oil paintings, an unprecedented event in the history of the 30 Martin Lawrence galleries. This was followed by numerous successful one-person shows in various states. The versatile artist eventually evolved into painting new subjects such as meticulously detailed sunflowers, seascapes, portraits and coastal landscapes.

After several years Lorna Patrick left Martin Lawrence galleries to pursue an independent career with complete artistic freedom. In recent years Patrick has been painting landscapes of the Carmel/Big Sur area of California. She is drawn to the interplay of light and shadow on the dramatic cliffs above the Monterey Bay. Another favorite subject is reflections in water. The Monterey area provides artistic inspiration in the Carmel lagoons and bird sanctuaries, hidden waterfalls surrounded by redwoods, tidepools, mossy fountains, the Big Sur River, and the ever-changing ocean. Children, beachwalkers, deer, otters and other wildlife are important accents which add to the detailed realism of Patrick's work. While Lorna Patrick continues to paint the Monterey Bay area, she is also exploring a new subject, the magnificent red rocks and cliffs of Sedona where she recently found a home. These uniquely magical and colorful cliffs glow brightly against a dramatic display of amazing cloud formations. Whatever her subject, Lorna Patrick's inspirational oil paintings come alive with light as they evoke a profound sense of peace and a deeply felt harmony with nature. Lorna Patrick's creative drive, imagination and technical virtuosity have forget a unique style of work that began at a young age.

As an aspiring painter, Lorna Patrick was captured in her kindergarten photograph standing at an artist's easel. In grammar school, Patrick was commissioned by parents for portraits of her classmates. While still a teenager, the artist had refined her talent so impressively that Patrick's mother exhibited the artist's oil paintings in her Palm Desert, California gallery. Patrick's relocation to New Mexico at twenty-one marks an important turning point in the life of the artist. While teaching at the Albuquerque Institute of Art, Patrick felt what she describes as "the enveloping spiritual energy of sunlight." She began to understand and to interpret the profound relationship between the people and their environment. A deep, spiritual and philosophical belief in man's harmony with nature emerged as a result of these experiences and has become the basis and subject of Patrick's art.

Lorna Patrick's superb technique and affecting images gained distinction among art collectors in New Mexico and throughout the Southwest. Having worked primarily as a commissioned artist, Patrick's original paintings have also adorned the walls of Santa Fe galleries. For several years Patrick exhibited at the prestigious Jamison Galleries. She has also shown her work at the Marcus Gallery. When Patrick entered the annual competition at the New Mexico State Fair, she won First Prize in the category of oil painting, as well as the highly acclaimed Most Popular Painting award.