Biography
New England Artist Patricia Sweet-MacDonald was born in Clearwater Beach, Florida and resided there until she married and started a family in 1995. After marriage and two children, the quaint charm and peaceful life style of New England led her and her family to NH where they now reside.
As a primarily self taught artist, she discovered her talent at the early age of 5 while oil painting with her grandmother. She participated in several art shows and events before graduating high school. The demands of college and then her dedication to raising a family temporarily put a hold on her painting. Soon after her children became more independent, she picked up the brush and rarely puts it down.
Artist Statement
The creation of art has been a part of me since I was very young. I painted my first oil painting at age 5 alongside my grandmother while watching Bob Ross on the Public Television station. At age 6, I broke my leg and the doctors discovered that I had a rare bone disease called Fibrous Dysplasia. My childhood drastically changed from running and playing with the kids in my neighborhood to being bed ridden and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my childhood days. Unable to participate in physical play with my peers, I spent most days alone with my imagination wandering. This is when my artist mind developed and while my body could not exercise, my imagination had plenty of time to grow. I followed every stroke Bob Ross put on his canvas, I sketched my fair share of unicorns and mystical creatures, sculpted with Play Doe, taped and glued cardboard pieces together to create my masterpieces. At the age of 9, I had my first art show. Now an adult, I am fully recovered and have kept my focus on my art.
I have been fortunate to learn and study with a handful of phenomenal artists such as Gil Perry, Peter Granucci, Michael Chesley Johnson, Karl Heerdt and a host of many others. I owe my sincerest gratitude to Gil Perry, a third generation Frank Vincent DuMond student, who has guided and has shared his experiences and knowledge of the DuMond palette with me. I now see value in every object, constantly comparing what I see to the paint values on my palette, always searching for the focus in my painting; the light effect.
I strive to learn and seek inspiration from the great masters of the past. I have a respect for their commitment to excellence and attention to detail. Within every painting, I desire to capture a pristine moment in time, as the great masters did, so that the viewer can experience the same beauty of a location that captured me as I stood in awe and led me to paint it.
I prefer to paint “en plein air” so that I can experience the beauty of my subject first hand. I feel an excitement when it has taken some effort to get to the subject. The seclusion gives me the ability to digest my surroundings and experience the landscape more intimately. My greatest days are when I can pack a lunch, take a hike, paddle my kayak, and find a place to be still and paint. I love to be surrounded by the flurry of activity that nature provides. I listen intently to the shared communication between wildlife, feel the warmth of the sun, how the soft breeze felt on my skin, see how the sun danced on the water and illuminated the trees. I hope to capture and record all these things from that day in the painting I am creating.
Often, I search for a natural light effect to spot light an element of my subject so that it draws the viewer’s attention into the depths of the painting. I continually strive to create distance and dimension in my paintings and I find that everyday I learn something new. God has blessed me with the desire to capture the beauty he has created and I must continue to paint so that I am fulfilling Gods will for my life.
