— Friedrich Nietzsche As you enter Cornerstone Café you can immediately feel the bliss that artist Bobbie Patton says she gets from painting. Patton is the Kings County Art League’s featured artist for September and October with her art exhibit titled, “Follow Your Bliss!” Each painting is beautiful and unique. Two of her paintings, “Hydrangeas” and “Rose Parade” are early works.
You can see how her work has blossomed as she has gone from flowers to landscapes. Growing up in Pennsylvania, Patton didn’t dabble in art at all. However, she always loved the arts and had an appreciation for music, art, and writing.
It is hard to believe by viewing her paintings that Patton started painting just 13 years ago. She retired in 2011, and she and her husband were living in the retirement community of Sun City Roseville in Northern California. One day she was walking by the complex’s art room when three women sitting inside beckoned her to come in.
Patton, at the urging of the women, signed up to take art classes offered in the community there, and that’s when her artistic journey began. Patton then took several different art classes to try find her art medium of choice. She finally found her niche in oils.
She finds watercolor an unforgiving medium and isn’t fond of acrylic as it dries too quickly. One complaint that artists voice about oil painting is that it takes too long to dry. However, Patton found that to be a positive, and the very thing she loves about it.
She can change up what she has painted a lot easier when the paint is still wet. She likes to use a palette knife to add oil paint to give texture to the painting which gives a realistic touch. This is evident in her piece “Wish You Were Here” where the wave realistically laps up on the sand.
Patton is fond of using blue in her work, which is very evident in the pieces she selected for this show. She also enjoys painting the roses in her garden. In February 2021, Patton and her husband moved to Visalia to be closer to her son and grandchildren.
Patton then went looking for fellow artists, finding them nearby at the Tulare Palette Club. The first Tuesday of each month she participates in the Tulare Senior Center’s Art Critique. She has exhibited her work in many art shows, often winning ribbons.
She was part of a Two Women art show last year at the Tulare Historical Museum. She then joined the Kings County Art League and came into our midst. She recently joined the Visalia Art League.
After she has spent time painting a very detailed piece, Patton likes to take a break and paint in the abstract as she likes the free form of it. You see this in a couple of her pieces in the show. Patton makes sure she paints for an hour each day, usually in the afternoon.
If you look closely at her paintings, any with the color black is not true black. This is because one of Patton’s first art instructors taught her students to never use black paint from a tube but to make their own. Patton does this by mixing red and green together.
These are known as complimentary colors as they are opposites on the color wheel. Patton never lets her color wheel get too far away from her when she is painting. She has experimented with using different shades of red and green to get various shades of black.
This is fun to see in her paintings. Look closely at her work and you will see the various shades of black. Patton has also begun painting pet portraits which she enjoys immensely.
One of her favorites, a black and white cat, titled “Bing Clawsby,” is on display. If you wish to commission a landscape or pet portrait she can be contacted at 916-549-3499 or [email protected] All the paintings in her exhibit are for sale.
Patton’s “Follow Your Bliss” exhibit, is displayed in Cornerstone Café. The café is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.
to 2 p.m. It is located inside FAST Plaza at 312 West 7th Street in Hanford.
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