Original Oil Paintings by Pati

Desert Couple

This is the Desert Couple portrait, just off the easel,

This painting is in private collection; inquiries for couples portraits are welcome. Please contact me directly.

Ram

Here is my latest painting, just off the easel - "Ram", 30" x 40", oil and gold leaf on canvas.

Stop SOPA If You Love Your Online Art

I support compliance with intellectual property laws - after all, I am an artist and a creator of "content" that is available on the internet - images of my original oil paintings. I try to appropriately signal my rights with the © symbol. But there is a move afoot that could decimate the online art community and all of our digital freedom through the overreaching efforts of the entertainment industry.

Why should artists care? Isn't this all just about pirated movies and music? Not by a long shot! Read on........

{CURRENT UPDATE BEFORE WE LOOK AT HOW WE GOT HERE - This looks like the end of the beginning for PIPA/SOPA, as Harry Reid tweets that "In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote on the PROTECT IP Act." Great job netizens!}

By now you may have heard something about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA), the bills introduced in the U.S. Congress that want to cripple your internet. But I don't see many other ART bloggers or commenters piping up about it so I will.

Why Beauty Matters

I started my training as a classical painter some twenty years ago, when figurative painting executed in the classical style received the same response as velvet panels with tigers painted on them. Like the one's found in strip mall art fairs back in the 70's 80's.

Story in point: my husbands family are academicians, with a few purchases of modern art installed in their home. As a newlywed, I remember standing before one of their newest acquisitions, an abstract expressionist painting prominently displayed in their living room. There was awkward silence as I looked at my feet trying to figure out what to say. Even as a fledgling, clothes designer turned sculptor, I could see that the painting was a shameless attempt by a first year art student to copy the style of Jackson Pollack. But I wanted them to like me so I lied and said it was beautiful. The main thing I remember from that day 30 + years ago is not the painting, but the intricate beauty of the hand knotted Persian rug I was standing on. It registered as being more visually arresting than the visual chaos of the treasured painting.

Back in those days, there were a few small brave souls, mostly coming out of the Art Students League in New York City, Atelier Lack in Minnesota, Ted Seth Jacobs in France, Tony Ryder, Jacob Collins, David Leffel, Richard Schmid, among others, who quietly painted and taught what they knew, and thereby created the fountainhead for the change you see sweeping the country in how we think about art.

Nowadays it is mainstream to think that art should be beautiful, noble and uplifting. And to honor that reemerging ethos, here is a short video of the first installment of Roger Scruton's BBC series titled, Why Beauty Matters. It helps demystify the "emperor's new clothes" aspect of modern art. If you like that then you might also enjoy reading through the highly acclaimed Art Renewal Center website listed on my side bar, and in particular, the Inaugural Address by Fred Ross .

Ares Am I

Here's my latest painting just off the easel titled Ares Am I, 9" x 12", oil on archival board.