We were lucky to catch up with Patricia A Griffin recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Patricia A, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Habitat preservation and restoration have been a critical component of my life. In 2004, I acquired the Wesley Church, a 1900’s brick building whose rafters house one of the largest brown bat maternity colonies in Northeastern PA. The protection of this particular bat species is significant, as they only have one or two pups a year. The church’s peaked roof and rafters, and hot summer temperatures, act as an incubator for hundreds of developing pups. The colony at Wesley Church can consume more than three quarters of a million mosquitoes each night. Students from both Pennsylvania State University and East Stroudsburg University research and collect data on site.
In 2015, I purchased a twenty-acre plot of wetlands to preserve, from development, the skunk cabbage, an essential early spring diet for a mother black bear who returns yearly with her cubs in April to feed.
Since 2012, I have been a member of , Artists For Conservation, as a Signature Member. Their vision is “to lead a global artistic movement that inspires individuals and organizations to preserve and sustain our natural heritage by uniting the talent and passion of the world’s most gifted nature artists.” Currently, two of my paintings are traveling in the Silent Skies Mural project. “Silent Skies” is an international collaborative super-mural mosaic, featuring all 678 endangered birds species in the world; 160 AFC artists from 15 countries participated in the project. The 100-ft installation will form the artistic centerpiece of the 27th International Ornithological Congress in August 2018 in Vancouver, BC. After the Congress, the mural will tour internationally.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My oldest memories, are of patterns and light: looking down from a large spiral staircase to a black and white checkered floor, large windows sent angles of sunshine across the expanse , Blue light, filtered through a shear curtain, gracing the curves of mahogany carved figures , and yellow white light, glowing through leaves of a grape arbor. These experiences, seared into memory, happened prior to my 4th year.
I received my first award, for a Smokey the Bear drawing, in First Grade, later the Art Room was where I found my voice in High School and I went on to Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA. in the mid 80’s to get a Bachelors of Fine Art in Drawing. The most recent award I received is the “Artist For Conservation” award from the group of the same name 8/1/2022
I never bought into the concept of the starving artist and knew I wanted to develop the art work to the degree it could support me. I taught art, painted commissions, started multiple businesses with my husband, all to give myself the freedom and opportunity to create from the heart.
Traveling and training in the field, Plein Air painting for the first 15 years of my career, I learned about process, discipline and color. I always had a camera and would capture images of the wildlife I saw. Animals began to be my subjects in the studio, and the canvases grew larger. I experimented with color relationships and vibrations created. The paintings of animals noticeably effected the viewer on a deeper level than the Pleain Air work. I committed to painting animals and my career took off.
Color theory, value, and light, are three prominent elements in my oil on linen paintings.
The recognizable style of the work has developed over the past 33 years.
Multiple layers of oil are utilized to capture the subjects and transfer their spirit from and experience shared in nature.
I work in some capacity every day.
I keep regimented studio hours and marketing time.
I have a studio in North East, Pa and one in Jackson, Wy.
In the studio I work for hours in silence.
I quiet my mind and become the conduit of the image.
My pallet is expansive and I grab the tubes of color intuitively.
Paint is applied, thick and thin with: brush, fingers, knives, spray, bringing a critical component to the surface.
My subjects are from an interaction shared and I rely on observations in the field and information collected to embody the image with emotion.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I am a wildlife painter , photographer, researcher, naturalist, and conservationist. I use my work as a billboard for awareness-a vehicle for the awakening of the human soul to the necessity of protecting and preserving that which does not speak a human language.
Sixty percent of wildlife has disappeared since my birth in 1967 (link). There is an urgency in my work. I hike, swim, ski, drive, fly, and boat to the areas that have been preserved by forward-thinking leaders and activists. I study the diets, footprints, scat, behaviors, history, and environment of the animals I paint. I observe them with a quiet, meditative calmness, and patience that has taken me years to develop. I am intoxicated by their untamed presence, and in awe as they enter my view. The elation that pulses through my veins is not contained within me, and my aura expands out to greet that of the animal I am experiencing.
The work I create is collected internationally, represented by galleries, shown in museums, and published in books. The sale of my work has allowed me to contribute 10% of the proceeds to a broad platform of conservation efforts.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I head out with my camera to the animals I paint in their natural habitat. The rewards for my perseverance are great; the witnessing fuels a continuum of an experience from the animal to oil paint-an everlasting, archival documentation of an observation preserved for humanity on linen. I am the conduit, the interpreter, the observer and the medium. I recreate my reality in a way that embodies a connection to the animal kingdom on an intuitive level, to be perceived by the viewer as their own awakening to the animal spirit; the totem that exists within, to draw strength and knowledge beyond the human existence.
Watching peoples reaction to the work is the icing on the cake.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://griffingallery.com
- Instagram: @patriciaagriffin
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/patricia.griffin.948
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-a-griffin-17003237/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK7ZNuNi9-vIrUIH4UrVFrA
- Other: Prints https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/patricia-a-griffin podcast https://sites.libsyn.com/334427/ep-133-patricia-a-griffin Article https://fineartconnoisseur.com/2018/12/a-relentless-pursuit/ Recent award https://www.artistsforconservation.org/art-artists/award-winners/monthly-conservation-artist/patricia-griffin-22972