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Eleven Watercolors
by
Patricia Tobacco Forrester
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Have you ever been overcome by the swirling colors and shapes in nature? In this state, everything seems alive, vibrating, lush, and real and unreal at the same time. Patricia Forrester has captured this experience in her magnificent watercolors over the past four decades. For this, we at Persimmon Tree honor her by showing eleven images of her recent work below. We wish to thank the Braunstein/Quay Gallery in San Francisco, and especially Ruth Braunstein and Shannon Trimble, for helping us put this selection together.
Patricia Forrester is known as a "plein air" (open air) painter, meaning that she works directly in nature, not in a studio. She usually sits on the ground with a large sheet of paper before her—partly on her lap and partly propped on the ground or a cardboard box. By painting directly onto paper, without any preliminary drawings or photographs, she brings a great vitality and immediacy to her work.
She states that "the subject of my work is always growth: how trees and plants bulge and stretch and open." Her paintings are a direct response to nature—but they are not an imitation. Sometimes she brings images from other natural settings into her paintings, for example tropical blossoms into a wintery scene. This gives her work a feeling of unreality, as though she’s seeing things we ordinarily don’t see and making connections we don’t make.
In painting the world as she experiences it, Forrester’s work is infused with her memories and reflections. The choices she makes in the setting of each watercolor reflect her sensibilities. Because of this, her paintings have a visionary quality, much like Georgia O’Keefe and Vincent van Gogh.
Bennington Birches, (Diptych), 1994
Watercolor; 60 x 80 inches
Pink Bananas, 2001
Watercolor; 40 x 24 inches
Ausable, 1999
Watercolor; 40 x 60 inches
Late Summer Garden, 2002
Watercolor; 41 x 26 inches
Lock, Mirrored, 2001
Watercolor; 40 x 60 inches
Magnolias Abandoned, 2004
Watercolor, 42 x 30 inches
Carneros, 1993-2010
Watercolor; 40 x 43 inches
Fragmented Roses, 2001
Watercolor; 26 x 19 inches
Copake, 2006
Watercolor; 40 x 60 inches
Hillwood Tulips, 1997-2000
Watercolor; 26 x 41 inches
Cliffs and Callas, 2008
Watercolor; 60 x 40 inches
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Patricia Tobacco Forrester’s work has been shown widely in hundreds of museums and galleries across the U.S. and abroad for over 35 years. Numerous major museums own her paintings and prints, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum (London), the Brooklyn Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Yale University Art Gallery, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, where she lives.
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Comments
joanne leonard
14 Dec 2011, 17:39
I have just become acquainted with this site because my sister, Eleanor
Rubin's work has been recently added. Thus I discovered your work,
Patricia. Years ago I knew you in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have lived
now in Michigan for over 30 years. It's great to run into your beautiful
work.best, joanne
http://www.beinginpictures.com/
Patricia Rutkowski
20 Mar 2011, 09:02
I was initialy attracted to your watercolor style after reading the Fall
2009 article in the AmericanArtist Watercolor magazine. See I've kept this
magazine ever since and haapened to reread it today. I too love the vibrant
effects watercolor can achieve. My biggest question I have is do you paint
dry or start wet on wet? I am inclined to think dry since you work so large
and on 300 pound paper. Hope to hear how your technique is started.
Sue Taylor
18 Aug 2010, 13:29
I am overwhelmed by the size of Bennington Birches and can't imagine
creating a plein air piece of that size. I love the perspective in that
piece as well. And the shimmering color of Hillwood Tulips also speaks to
me. Thank you for sharing your beautiful water colors.
ruth housman
17 Aug 2010, 08:50
These are, LOVELY.
I am particularly drawn to, fragmented roses, all those wonderful swirls
and rosettes.
Bravo!
Sally Thomason
27 Jul 2010, 08:54
What rarified pleasure, to catch a glimpse of what you see behind and
beyond what I see when I walk in nature.
Thank you for sharing your gift.
Alicia Ostriker
19 Jul 2010, 10:55
Magnificent paintings, really out of this world/ in this world. I wish I
could see them life size--huge jewels.
Maria Kazaski
30 Jun 2010, 08:47
Wow, I did not know you could do that with water colors. These are amazing.
Barbara
17 Jun 2010, 05:35
Your watercolor paintings are stunning!
June McCash
15 Jun 2010, 10:02
Your work is breathtaking.
Lilith Rogers
14 Jun 2010, 23:56
These are so wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I began studying
watercolor a few months ago and it is very challenging--esp. for a beginner
painter at 64. Now I am inspired to keep painting.
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