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Patrick Saunders
Patrick Saunders is an award-winning national artist who travels the globe, creating fine art, teaching painting workshops, and judging painting competitions. Patrick paints a variety of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, and florals.
After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute, Patrick spent a decade as an artist at Hallmark Cards before returning to KCAI to accept a faculty position teaching illustration, painting, animation, and web design. His students voted to honor Patrick with an Educator of the Year award. Teaching led to a job offer in advertising, where, as a Group Creative Director, Patrick led teams of marketing professionals in New York, San Francisco, and globally, producing advertising for clients such as Colgate-Palmolive, Whole Foods, Hill’s Pet Food, FedEx, Revlon, Southwest Airlines, Tom’s of Maine, Nextel, Skyy, Kashi, and Kellogg’s.
Throughout his career, Patrick has been recognized for outstanding work, earning awards from the American Advertising Federation, the International Academy of the Visual Arts, the Web Marketing Association, the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, and Oil Painters of America. He was first featured by Southwest Art Magazine in 2000, as one of their 21 Artists to Watch Under 31, and has since twice been the cover artist for and featured in Southwest Art, in September 2018 and in December 2020. Patrick has also been featured in American Art Collector, Western Art Collector, Art of the Wes ... view more »
Resume (PDF)
Patrick Saunders' cover art for the December 2020 issue of Southwest Art Magazine
Patrick Saunders win Gold Medal from the Oil Painters of America for "Dama De Rojo"
Patrick Saunders featured in Western Art Collector Magazine
Patrick Saunders featured in Art of the West Magazine
Patrick Saunders Wins Best in Show in Artist Network Magazine's Pets Art Competition
Work Samples (PDF)
Patrick Saunders - "Amor a la Vida" • Oil on Linen • 48"x38" • Private Collection
Patrick Saunders - "Of Earth And Sky" • Oil on Linen • 30"x60" • Private Collection
Patrick Saunders - "Awaiting" • Oil on Linen • 24"x30" • Private Collection
Patrick Saunders - "Kobe" • Oil on Linen • 12"x16" • Private Collection
Patrick Saunders - "Tapestry" • Oil on Linen • 12"x16" • Private Collection
MORE ABOUT THIS ARTIST
Artist Type: Teaching Artist/Instructor; Visual Arts: Painter
Artist Style: Teaching Artist/Instructor: Group Instruction, Guest Speaker, Instruction for Adults, Multi-Day Artist Residency, Private Lessons, Workshop Presenter; Visual Art: Contemporary, Figurative, Illustrative, Impressionistic, Landscape/Cityscape, Portraiture, Realism, Representational, Still Life
Artist Medium: Acrylic; Oil; Watercolor
Artist Statement of Work
Tell us about your work (style, approach, philosophy, subject and/or theme):
"I believe that art is the act of creation. The result, whether it is a painting, sculpture, photograph etc., is simply a record of the creation experience. My approach is to free myself from preconceived visual beliefs and interpret the world directly before me. In so doing, I rediscover the colors, textures and values of everyday life that we otherwise take for granted. This is what drives me to paint and what I encourage in my students. My art is the product of diligence in practice. I do not believe in talent. I believe that all of us have the potential to create art, if we choose to dedicate ourselves to the pursuit."
VIDEOS
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Truly learning to paint means learning to paint anything. No gimmicks for painting specific things, no shortcuts, no so-called secrets, just a lot of good practice. Whether you\'re a beginner, or more advanced, award-winning national artist Patrick Saunders can teach you to paint any subject, from the most simple to complex, with one approach. Go to the Workshops page at www.PatrickSaunders.com to see Patrick\'s current teaching schedule, and to register for a class near you. To inquire about scheduling a painting workshop at your gallery, school, studio, or organization, you can reach Patrick via e-mail at contact@patricksaunders.com.
Contact information
AUDIO
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Patrick Saunders’ paintings have won many awards and received much recognition. His studio works earned him membership in notable painting organizations, including becoming a signature member of Oil Painters of America. When Patrick began plein air painting in 2013, he won awards from numerous nationally recognized events and organizations. However, whether he paints indoors or outdoors, he does not want to be known by where he paints. He doesn’t want to be known as a plein air painter nor as a studio painter. Rather, he considers himself simply as a painter drawn to many subjects. The subject matter of his paintings includes landscapes, cityscapes, animals and pets, and florals. Many of these subjects Patrick discovers along the thousands of miles he and his wife, photographer Kimberly Saunders, travel in their Airstream across the country. Patrick avoids the many sweeping vistas he travels through, preferring to capture the intimate details of life. As he and his wife travel, he searches out the colors, textures, and values of everyday life that are all too often taken for granted. In this episode, Patrick talks about the challenge of overcoming preconceptions about how something should be painted. It requires keen observation of what is before us. Our belief that some subjects are more difficult to paint than others may also be the result of deeply rooted preconceptions. Careful observation and the willingness to view art making as a series of little mistakes corrected and adjusted throughout our painting session helps us overcome our preconceived notions about painting. Patrick Saunders\'s work clearly demonstrates that he diligently strives to paint with no preconceptions.