ENDANGERED: Art4Apes is delighted to announce that Patsy Lindamood is our February 2022 Virtual Artist in Residence

Congratulations to Patsy Lindamood for becoming our February 2022 Virtual Artist in Residence. The Virtual Artist in Residence Program is awarded monthly to the artist (or photographer) who has submitted 3 or more entries to the ENDANGERED Fine Art & Photography Contest 2021 and has been selected by the Curatorial Committee as best interpreting the aims of the Contest.

Artist Statement

Lindamood’s compulsion to draw is about capturing the visual beauty she sees in the world around her. She is drawn to the plethora of mathematically based patterns found in nature, such as spots on a jaguar or the feathers of a pelican. Streetscapes abound in lines and shapes. And, workboats abound with all manner of shapes, patterns, and the drama of the test of wills between man and animal.

A well-established pastel artist, Patsy Lindamood knows how to create works of art that burst with color and vibrancy. But a few years ago, she felt compelled to return to working in graphite as means to focus on shapes and values.

Lindamood’s preferred substrate for graphite work is Ampersand’s Claybord, which provides an exceptionally smooth yet porous surface that accepts layers and layers of graphite but also is forgiving enough to enable her to experiment with different forms of graphite and various ways to apply the graphite and/or to manipulate the graphite once applied. Each new work is an opportunity to discover something new. And, when the visual language is reduced to just lines, shapes, and values, the underlying story becomes more poignant, more arresting. Absent the romance of color, working in shades of grey is like telling a short story rather than writing a novel.

For her graphite works, she selects subject matter with a strong range of values from the darkest dark to the lightest light. This range of values affords her the opportunity to create drama and visual intensity. Her “drawings” look more like paintings than drawings, and – in fact – from a distance are often mistaken for photographs. Lindamood’s intent is not to replicate every detail she sees, but rather to create the appearance of detail that the eye will read as far more complex and comprehensive.

Patsy Lindamood © 2022 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

Lindamood’s watercolor pencil work, once it is sealed with an acrylic finish, the hues of these works rival the trademark bold & brilliant colors of her former soft pastel work. Drawing directly on the same Pastelbord that had been her substrate for soft pastel. She began to experiment, discovering how watercolor pencil could be manipulated on Pastelbord with tools such as stubby stencil brushes, kitchen pot scrubbers, sandpapers & rubber-tipped blenders. Add water, with a lightly saturated brush, & the possibilities explode. Water-diluted layers of a watercolor pencil could be further layered with direct application of watercolor pencil to develop depth & strong color. Just as she had been able to create a broad range of textures & effects with pastels, she could manipulate watercolor pencil to achieve a similar impact.

A late starter as an artist, Lindamood decided in 2004 to become a professional. While she may not currently “live” off my art, she is nevertheless a full-time practicing artist, despite her day job as a CFO/CTO for a credit union. She typically spends some 30 to 40 or more hours a week in her studio creating work, or at her computer vetting and composing her photographic reference, or engaged in the business of promoting and supporting her art. In addition to her original work, she accepts commissions of all types for projects which she finds personally engaging.

Lindamood spent years attempting to understand the dichotomy between the demands of her day job and the skills and creativity required to be an artist. She is often asked how someone who is a professional mathematician of sorts, and who is responsible for implementing and supporting technology, has the capacity to create art. Her need to understand this dichotomy has led her to explore mathematical concepts such as the Fibonacci sequence which is foundational to the highly representational wildlife artwork she creates.

See more of Patsy’s work by clicking on the links below:

Website: https://www.lindamoodart.com

Instagram: @lindamoodart

ENDANGERED: Fine Art & Photography Contest 2021 Submissions

Think Twice, Advance Once. Watercolor Pencil on Ampersand Pastelbord © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

Where the Locals Congregate. Watercolor Pencil with water Soluble Wax Pastel on Ampersand Claybord © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

A Precautionary Pause. Watercolor Pencil on Ampersand Pastelbord © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

What’s Mine, is Mine!. Graphite on cradled Ampersand Claybord © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

Take Flight. Graphite on Ampersand Claybord © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

See more of Patsy’s work below:

A Maternal Moment. Graphite on cradled Ampersand Claybord © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

Gorillas are another of my favorite subjects, and I have painted or drawn them numerous times. Clearly, the connection here is to the extraordinary humanness of their behavior. This piece captures the first time I had ever seen a gorilla baby, and the way this little tyke is being grasped as he hangs over to check out what his “pops” is doing just melts my heart. This piece is also an example of how I have often incorporated pastel ground added to the surface of Claybord to enhance the texture of rock, ground, dirt, or sand in the environment.

Brazos Gator © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

I don’t abandon many works once. I typically spend a great deal of time composing and planning before I ever touch a board. But this gator threatened to defeat me. I first did a large version 36 inches wide in pastel on Pastelbord. It just wasn’t working for me. I next tried a watercolor version, same size, same substrate. Finally, once I had returned to working in graphite, I had the brilliant idea to do a graphite version, but decided to scale the size back to 12 x 24. This work is a penultimate example of how I use “subtraction” in my graphite work, as most all the vegetation and the majority of scales were created using an electric eraser to remove graphite from the board.

Jaguar with a Twist © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

I am not a “cat” person, and I have never been drawn to domestic cats like I am to dogs. But, I have had a life-long fascination with “big” cats, mesmerized by the patterns of their coats, and the power and intensity of their movement. How, as the highest order of creatures, humans have allowed their populations across the planet to become so decimated, is gut-wrenching to me. Beyond the arresting patterning of spots, this jaguar was caught mid-turn, its massive musculature accentuated by the lighting.

One Small Step © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

This work is a study for a life-size piece I plan to do. The giant tortoise is such a prehistoric-looking creature. With each small step it takes, you just want to help it along to move just a bit more swiftly. And yet, its slow, measured pace bears a sense of majesty, and the longevity of the creature as a species as well as an individuals bears out the fable of The Tortoise and the Hare.

Zebra Confidences © 2021 Patsy Lindamood. All Rights Reserved.

Zebras are a favored subject for me. I’ve created zebra works in soft pastel, watercolor pencil, and graphite. My pastel version has been featured in multiple exhibitions, but the graphite versions are probably my favorites – because they enable me to make those lines and patterns pop. I tend to anthropomorphize wildlife, unable to resist the tendency to attribute human-like behaviors and communications to them. Can’t you just tell these two are cozily gossiping about that pair across the plain from them?

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR VAiR PROGRAM

The Virtual Artist in Residence Program is awarded monthly to the artist and photographer who have submitted 3 or more entries to the ENDANGERED Fine Art & Photography Contest and have been selected by the Curatorial Committee as best interpreting the aims of the Contest.

Questions? Lindsey@Art4Apes.com