Artist Charlie Patton began painting when he was a mere child. Inspired by his first teacher (a 92-year-old painter) who dazzled the boy with her talent and ease to create a work of art right before his eyes. He has been painting ever since.
Now as a professional artist he has shown in many galleries and said he is especially excited to exhibit his work at Upper West Restaurant. Known for its fantastic cuisine, the Santa Monica restaurant hosts art shows every three to four months. On Sunday, October 23rd, Upper West presents “Visceral” Intuitive Abstraction featuring over thirteen works by Patton.
The Upper West team has selected an eclectic grouping of paintings from several different painting series. “These range from pure abstract, abstract figurative, collage, to classical paintings like Donia,” said Patton. “I like the approach to this because it all most looks like different people painted these paintings.”
He describes his inspiration… “Donia is a good friend of mine who had a certain profile that was very beautiful so I wanted to paint that. The cup that she is holding is an 18th century bone cup with a metal heart and initials engraved on it. I think it was a wedding cup.”
Patton said he never knows what will emerge when approaching a canvas. He is open to anything. He went on to explain that he will often start a painting with a specific style in mind, then find that the piece is evolving into an entirely different work of art such as Cape Horn, one of the paintings that will be part of “Visceral.” He continued, “Cape Horn started out as a pure abstract painting that evolved into an African influenced color pallet and figure.”
The painting What is Love, is probably one of Patton’s most personal works. He painted the mixed media work at his studio in Santa Barbara. “It represents the pain that we feel when we fall in love with someone and that love is not mutually shared,” said Patton. “It feels like a shot thru the heart.” Art lovers have been especially been drawn to this painting.
I think that the most important thing about making art for me is that I transform my perspective to a relaxed frame of mind when I am making art or thinking about art or talking to artists about art.
“Visceral” Intuitive Abstraction featuring the paintings of Charlie Patton opens on Sunday, October 23rd at Upper West Restaurant, located at 3321 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica 90404. The artist reception takes place from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Find out more about the artist, Charlie Patton on his facebook page https://www.facebook.com/cpattonart/
For additional info about the restaurant, Upper West, visit the website at http://www.theupperwest.com/
