Honorable Mention: Patsy Lindamood, Texas
Patsy Lindamood, Seaside Romp, pastel, 24 x 36.
What inspired your winning entry? During Thanksgiving 2011, my husband and I were camping at Hunting Island, SC. We spent Thanksgiving Day wandering the shoreline at the campground. One young man had a gorgeous hound he was playing catch with in the surf. The simple image of that animal, its joy as it romped out into the surf, retrieved, and returned to shore to deliver the prize to her master, was just a joy to watch.
Where did you study art? I am a self-taught artist. I did take art-history classes and a handful of studio classes at the University of Tampa in the early ’70s. But I abandoned art for “making a living.” Eventually I did train with several nationally recognized colored-pencil artists and with a number of internationally recognized pastelists during the last seven years.
How would you describe your style? Representational. My intention is to create images that are realistic and compelling and have the power to evoke emotion and create an almost visceral response from the viewer.
What is one thing most people don’t know about you? I retired as the chief executive officer of a $50 million credit union in 2011. But then I took another job as chief financial officer of a $75 million credit union in 2012. Having begun to pursue art as a career in a professional way around 2005, I am really “late to the dance.” I have worked diligently during the last seven years to develop my skills while still holding onto my “day job” as a way to pay the bills.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? When people ask me how I developed my skills in a relatively short period of time, I tell them I learned to paint by painting. You can read, you can study what others have done, you can talk to other artists, but ultimately, it is the act of painting that has most developed me as an artist.
What’s the most meaningful recognition you’ve received for your artwork? In 2011, I was one of a handful of medal winners in the Artists for Conservation annual exhibition. Then, a month or so later, I learned that one of my pieces took a top award from the National Art Museum of Sport.
Featured in the December 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
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