FORKING TRAILS

Pat’s “Dynamic Color” show at Waxlander

Destiny - Pat Matthews

When Pat Matthews first brought one of his abstract paintings into Santa Fe’s Waxlander Gallery & Sculpture Garden, it was so different from his landscapes that the gallery staff wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“They looked at me and said, ‘Pat, are you all right?’” the artist recalls. Then the painting sold--and fast. “After that they said, ‘Paint more of those!’” he says with a laugh. The successful experiment inspired Pat as he prepared for “Dynamic Color: The Freedom of Expression”, his upcoming Waxlander show running from May 21 through June 3. As the show’s title suggests, Pat’s new body of work goes in some wild new creative directions.

“I think you have to learn how to paint realistically first before you go into abstraction,” Pat says. As chronicled in our last blog post, the artist developed a keen eye for perspective in his career as an architect, originally trained in traditional landscape painting. Pat’s foray into abstraction is a more recent development, and emerged from his desire to capture all sides of the forests he explores.


Sunny Afternoon - Pat Matthews

 “When you’re out in nature, there’s so much that you can see and feel,” Pat says. “If I’m looking at a scene, I don’t just see a tree and a stream. I see shimmering light, I hear wind, I feel the warmth of the forest. I feel alive, and I feel emotions.”

When Pat channeled all of these feelings through his brush, tree trunks turned into shimmering pillars of light, the cool breeze showed up in dabs of blue, and the joyful emotions rising inside him appeared as a spectacular rainbow.

“The contemporary paintings seemed to capture the essence of the forest,” Pat says. The artist didn’t stop there, though. One day he was painting in an aspen forest and conditions were changing fast. “The wind was blowing, the light was changing. I was like, ‘How am I going to paint this?’” he says. 

Pat opened and closed his eyes, and then painted what he’d seen in that brief instant. Vertical ribbons of paint wove across the canvas as the artist replicated the cascade of colors from that single impression. The resulting abstract was the first in a growing series he calls “In The Blink Of An Eye”.

Autumn's Dance - Pat Matthews

At the Waxlander show, visitors will have the opportunity to view all three styles--traditional, contemporary and abstract. Pat is eager to see how people react to the highly varied work.

“You can tell they’re all my works because they’re all very textural and mostly very colorful,” Pat says. “But when I have a show and do all three of these styles, it almost looks like three different artists in the show. I don’t know many artists that are doing that.”

Even so, Pat stresses that he refers back to his classical training no matter what style he’s chosen. “I’m using a lot of the same techniques and thoughts,” he says. “I’m trying to tie in the lights and the darks, I’m trying to compose the painting to pull you in and make you explore the canvas.”

Browse the work that will be featured in “Dynamic Color” and you’ll find a thread that runs from Pat’s most representational works to his wildest abstracts: all of them are electrified by the spirit of the forest.

“Dynamic Color: The Freedom of Expression” features Pat Matthews and his wife Tracee Matthews. The show runs from May 21 through June 3 at Waxlander Gallery & Sculpture Garden, with a reception on Friday, May 24 from 5-7 pm. Click here for more information, follow Pat on Facebook for updates on his work!

Intrigue - Pat Matthews

Breaking the Matrix: How Pat picked up a brush

Mountain Family - Pat Matthews

You can still see traces of Pat Matthews' work as an architect in his oil paintings. He has a keen eye for perspective, and his canvases are so carefully plotted that collectors have dubbed them “windows into the forest.” Even so, in his years as an architect Pat could never quite imagine becoming a professional artist. Making the switch would prove to be a true leap of faith.

Pat grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and showed artistic talent at a young age. His high school class at Little Rock Central High School voted him “Most Artistic”, but he decided to study architecture in college for fear of becoming a starving artist.  Pat graduated from the University of Arizona in 1987 with the prestigious William Wilde Memorial Award as the top designer of his class. 

“I have so much respect for Architects,” he says. “In our class at The University of Arizona there were over 200 of us to start the program.  Less than 50 of us made it through the five year program on time.” 

After completing an apprenticeship, Pat got his architectural license and started a practice as a design architect in Little Rock. Business was great but he couldn't completely forget his dream of being an artist. One day he was driving along and a large canvas caught his eye in a gallery window.

“I went in and asked who did the painting,” he says. “They told me it was Barry Thomas, and I said, 'You mean the guy I went to school with?'” Pat reconnected with Barry and they struck a deal: the architect would design a house for the artist in exchange for painting lessons. It was the seed of Pat's second career and the beginning of a close friendship.

Complements - Pat Matthews

Not long after, Pat and Barry traveled across Europe to paint in some of the same places that Monet, Van Gogh and other revered artists wielded their brushes. Pat was falling in love with painting, but back at home he still had a bustling architectural practice to manage.

“I started painting at night and doing architecture in the day, and I did that for years,” he says. There was always a new building project to work on, and Pat couldn't see a way to make the transition from the drafting table to the easel. He finally enlisted a life coach to help him hash it out.

“You know that movie The Matrix?” Pat says, referring to the Wachowski brothers film in which a man discovers that his world is actually a simulated reality.  “The life coach said, 'You've created your own 'Matrix', and you can change it just as fast.'”

That day, Pat called his biggest client and quit. “It was such an easy thing that I called every one of them and quit every job that night,” he says. “I figured if I fail I can always do architecture again.” The “Matrix” was broken, and Pat was free. 

Pat did 48 paintings for his first exhibition and all of them sold the night of the opening. It was a harbinger of his stellar career. He  then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico and established himself as a nationally recognized artist.

In The Blink Of An Eye - Pat Matthews

The artist has been painting full-time in the 12 years since, and now shows his works in galleries through the United States. He's sold just about everything he's created. “I'm so glad I decided to follow my passion,” he says. “I truly love what I do.”

Despite all of his successes, Pat stresses that he's still an artist in progress.  “I learn something new every day,” he says. The artist is always exploring different styles and subject matter, from his well-known neo-impressionist landscapes to abstract compositions featuring dazzling ribbons of color.

Pat's creations are in perpetual metamorphosis, but his careful regard for every detail ties it all together.

A leap of faith and a lot of hard work paid off.

Follow this blog to learn more of Pat's story, and like his Facebook page for daily updates on his latest work.