We were lucky to catch up with Pat Saunders-White recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Pat thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
The journey of supporting myself through my creative work was arduous, to be sure. Having written articles on my career for a number of years, it has given me the insight to understand my development in becoming a highly creative being. Being the middle child of five daughters, I enjoyed the ability of flitting between my older and younger sisters. This ability exposed me to learning the new and different from my older sisters to the familiar childish play of the younger sisters. It was a comfortable situation that none of the other sisters had. This privilege kept my fertile imagination fulfilled.
My family was not artistic but creative in their ability to stretch a dollar, think out of the box and make do with what you had. As soon as I was old enough to babysit ,I hoarded my 25 cents an hour in a shoebox to buy something I wanted. The very best Christmas present I received as a child was a very large tin box that contained at least 35 tiny pans of watercolor. That was the first time I was recognized as a creative person. Instead of crayons I was able to paint in my coloring books. This was the beginning.
Pat, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Twenty-two years I have been a full-time professional artist and instructor. The largest part of my portfolio are the pet portraits I have created for my clients. Commissions and reproductions of my work are sold around the world. My work has appeared on magazine covers , catalogs and wine labels. I challenged myself by teaching on cruise ships which turned out to be a wonderful experience. While working at our local museum as an instructor I have carved out a specialization in introducing people to many disciplines of art and to expand their imaginations.
In the classroom the emphasis is not on drawing realistically. Experimentation is my forte with different materials and mediums. Just like cooking, we find the right ingredients to bring their projects to be balanced and “fragrant” at the same time.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
As a child, becoming an artist was neither encouraged or recognized. Reflecting back to my childhood, I was filled with adventure, creativity and wonder. Science still fails to explain the how and why of creativity. Yet, creatives can flow in and out of their work and yet have a difficult time believing in their selves. Because we take our work seriously, every critique is seen either as a validation or condemnation of their self-worth. I personally had to work hard at taking critiques as a positive learning experience to challenge myself to be better.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
No matter how successful an artist becomes, the fear of not having what it takes lingers in our minds. We have to simply learn to deal with it or not. I am now 75 years old and still have goals to achieve. I have been cutting back on a full time career to painting from within. I wish to place all of my experiences and knowledge into creating a series of personal and meaningful abstracts that reflects my past. Re-reading this I realize I had never put it in words before.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pat-saunderswhite.artistwebsites.com
- Instagram: [email protected]
- Facebook: Pat Saunders-White, Colorful AttitudesPat SaundersWhite, Colorful Attitudes
- Linkedin: [email protected]
- Other: Trademark Global, GratefulLicensing,GreatBigCanvas
Image Credits
Jafe Parsons, Photographer Loveland Co 80537