Patty Hawkins ~ Estes Park, CO

Growing up in Louisiana in the 50s was an artistically stagnant time, although my Mother was a marvelous seamstress, teaching me the value of color and the intricacies of sewing. he emphatically told me “people say green and blue don’t work well together,” but she did so anyway. And we all point to the beauty of nature’s color combinations.

My watercolor painting began 35 years ago moving to Colorado, encouraged by my husband and children.The Denver Art Museum exhibited Craft: Poetry in the Physical in 1987, which include(s) work of Nancy Crow, Micheal James, Pam Sudstill and Rise Nagin (contemporary quilt artists). This made me realize quilting could be a much larger canvas on which to play with color.

Life is a balancing act of giving time to family: 3 wonderful grand kids, and hikes with my husband in Rocky Mountain National Park. August 2005, I was chosen as an Artist in Residence in Rocky Mountain National Park, which will be most inspiring for the Aspen trees I love creating in art quilts. Being an artist is a gift which must be constantly practiced, as well as shared, in my class teaching of design and dye painting.