UNEXPECTED at Home
UNEXPECTED 39" x 33" x 1.75"
When I was in high school I planned to go to college and become a nurse. I did go college, but I majored in journalism because I unexpectedly fell in love with writing. Then later I unexpectedly fell in love with art. We are encouraged as young people to plan our future—to decide whether we will further our education, get a job, or maybe join the armed forces. We are also questioned about relationships or children. Even during interviews prospective employers ask about our goals and plans. Yet life is full of the unexpected.
This painting spent almost two years seeming to talk to me in my studio (or perhaps I was talking to myself). Either I or the painting was dissatisfied with its direction.The process was a bit tedious. I would paint a little then add some markings. It kept feeling "almost right." Then in the final stage, the painting seemed to yell “go bigger.” When I stopped again, I heard, “no, even bigger.” Hopefully, it’s happy now.
"Unexpected" is a mixed media painting on paper mounted on a deep wood panel. The price is $2675 and includes free shipping within the continental US. If you would like to arrange your own shipping, please email me.
If you would like to see my other work, check them out here...
ORIGINALS LANDSCAPES STANDING STONES LIFE MONOTYPES BOOKS
I am very pleased to be selected as a featured artist by ArtsyShark. Here is the link
https://www.artsyshark.com/2023/08/11/featured-artist-patricia-raible/
I have always been a maker, a creator, a modifier, a re-doer. Even as a child I worked with my hands—always busy, always moving. My art is a lot like visual archeology, an unearthing of facts, symbols, and emotions as I attempt to make sense of life’s anomalies. I love surface design, texture, layers, muted colors—artifacts that suggest the history and the emotions behind events and ideas. My art communicates the joys, fears, and scars we collect as we go through our lives. While some elements are recognizable, I am an abstract, mixed media artist. My work has been shown in galleries, corporate institutions, and national publications and is held in a number of private collections. I am a juried member of the National Association of Women Artists and live and work in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Beginnings
I was in my twenties when I took my first art class, an elective that rumor had it would be an easy “A”. I never expected to become so captivated. Though ultimately I completed two writing degrees, I continued taking art classes while pursuing a career and raising a family. Then a retrospective of the late collage artist Romare Bearden ignited my passion once again. It was then that I chose art as a second career, studying on my own and with other wonderful artists locally and nationally.
Process
My first projects combined paper, fabric, and sewing as line, but the love of paint and texture eventually drew me to other surfaces. I now work on paper, canvas, and the deep wood panels that provide a solid base for me to construct multi-layered, textured abstract paintings. My portfolio also includes monotypes and handmade books of various sizes.
Whether visual or tactile, textures are always my first application, and they engage me throughout the process. Central to my paintings, these textures are multi-layered and fragmented and are created by addition to or subtraction from the surface. I may press found objects into the surface, encase materials, paint over them, apply markings and collage, or scrape and incise to reveal the layers beneath. One layer may be placed on top of the other, only to have earlier layers exposed or “excavated.” Images emerge; text becomes texture or line; and symbols connect the diverse elements, integrate the work, and define the boundaries. Turning things over, viewing them from various angles and scratching beneath the surface allows me to explore what is not always visible.
Inspiration
Sometimes the motivation is simple: wanting to communicate the feelings that surround me in the middle of the woods or while watching water cascading over rocks from 30 feet above me or waves cut trenches into the sand at high tide. Other times it’s more complicated. I may get ideas from reading, listening to others, or writing in my journal. A painting is my method of working out these complex ideas and their relationship to one another. It becomes a mystery or a puzzle to be solved. Sometimes there is resolution. Other times the search continues, and I paint the same ideas over and over. But ultimately it is all connected, all a part of the great energy within us and surrounding us.