Artist Statement/Resume

Mark Patnode
33 Granite Street
New London, CT 06320
Voice: 860-460-8458
email: mpatnode@ct.metrocast.net

Artist Statement

I enjoy painting from nature en plein air. I work quickly and with great intensity. Though I paint a variety of subjects, I find great satisfaction working with landscapes. The light from the sky influences everything because it is not only above us but all around us. What is around objects puts color in them.
I often paint large-scale because the sheer physicality of the brushwork on a large scale involves me in the act of creating and conveying that experience to the viewer. It’s a full-body experience, especially as I work on canvasses approaching greater than seven-feet wide, on location.
My goal with all my artwork is powerful visual simplicity. The first strokes establish my relationship with the subject and it becomes a dialog as I develop the work.
I take risks to be creative, whether that means working on a large scale, or pushing dramatic presentation to build emphasis. Although I accomplish most of my work within a couple of hours, I often return to a scene to further explore light, color, and form relationships.
What makes many of these paintings unique is that they are done onsite and in the element. Below zero - fingers going numb; rain whipping around; hot summer sunshine and high humidity; low visibility on a dark night.
In creating my artwork, the more I study nature the more I arrive at a language of form and color. When observing nature I discover proportional and interdependent relationships of form and color. The study of nature leads me to develop sympathetically influenced symbols, patterns, and a resulting message. The essence of color structure and principles of composition come from the study of nature yet I want my application to be as far removed from nature as I can get without losing principles learned from nature.
Working quickly and with great intensity, I create the poetry of the inspired moment.

In drawing I feel the paper understand its surface. This tunes me to the process and helps me fuse the medium with the surface. I want medium, surface, and concept to bond so the results from my interaction with subject and materials have cohesion.
I make extensive use of the white space and present it as a solid surface through negative and positive relations. My intention is to have the image influencing the paper. I feel that simplicity and minimal intrusiveness of the medium yields greater dynamics to create atmospheric depth.
I began in my teens as a watercolorist, so drawing and painting light within the materials tends to come quickly for me.

Artist Resume

Education

B.F.A. School of Art and Design, Purchase College, NY

Fellowships & Residences

               2007-08 Selected by Capital Region Education Council for a Teaching Artist Residency in Cape Verde, Africa
2005-      Invited by Griffis and Orpheus Foundations to Artist Residency at Sharon House, Smolyan, Bulgaria. Silver Rose Recipient, from Bulgaria’s Preeminent Poet, Lyubomir Levchev
2005       Invited to Alumnus Residency at I-Park Artists’ Enclave, East Haddam, CT
2005       Selected for Alumnus Residency Fellowship at VSC, Johnson, VT, sponsored by UAI
2004       Selected for Artist Residency at I-Park Artists’ Enclave for a self-directed, project specific pursuit
2004       Selected for an Artist Residency Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center (VSC), Johnson, VT, sponsored by UAI
2002-05 Selected as Participant by statewide program, Urban Artists Initiative (UAI), Hartford, CT, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism (CCT) in partnership with the Institute for Community Research (ICR)

Grants

               2010         Target Corporation funding for Salvation Army Pilot Arts in Education Program, Hartford North End Corps, Nelson Street, Hartford, CT
2009         Fisher Foundation funding for Salvation Army Pilot Arts in Education Program, The Right Place, Hartford, CT
2003-05   Six non-matching grants from Urban Artists Initiative, Hartford, CT, funded by NEA and CCT in partnership with ICR
1978         Presidents Grant, Purchase College

Solo Exhibitions

               2012         ‘A Live Retrospective of Mark Patnode’, Tsetse Gallery CT, February 2012
2010         Created official State of Connecticut Charter Oak Painting
2009        Images of Cape Verde – Norwich Arts Council, Norwich, CT - Jan - Feb
2007         Scenes from Bulgaria – 3rd Rail Studio, New Rochelle, NY - Feb 24 - Mar 24
2006         Bulgarian Paintings – National Palace of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria - Sep 25 - 28
2006         Bulgarian Paintings – Smolyan Art Gallery, Smolya, Bulgaria - Sep 22 - 25
2006         Selected Works – Windham Theatre Guild, Willimantic, CT - Feb 20 - Mar 5
2006         Selected Works – Wood Memorial Library, S. Windsor, CT - Feb 18 - Mar 15
2005         Unseen America – Mitchell College Library, Aug - Sep
2005         Selected Works – Gallery 121 – Jun 13 - Jul 9, Boston, MA
2003         Painting on the Beach – Oct 20 - Nov 26, Mitchell College, New London, CT

Two & Three Person Exhibitions

               2007       Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery – Wesleyan University – CCY Faculty Show (Drawing)
2006       Alexey von Schlippe Gallery – University of Connecticut, Groton, CT
2005       I-Park Series, Two Painters' Views – Mark Patnode / Peter Colquhoun, WAAC, Windham, CT
              A Moment…Please – Donna Martell / Mark Patnode / Garnet Wrigley, Norwich Arts Council, Norwich, CT
1989       Mark Patnode / Jan Royce Conant – Lyman Allyn Art Museum, N. London, CT

Public Exhibitions

               2010       Charter Oak Painting displayed at Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism
               Charter Oak Painting displayed at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art Gallery, Connecticut Convention Center (Commissioned by State of Connecticut (CCT) and Governor's Office to create 375th Anniversary Painting)
2006 -     Painting on display as part of CCT Arts in Public Places Program, Senator Joe Lieberman’s Washington DC Office, Hart Building

Group Exhibitions

2011 Expressiones - Hygienic Art XXXII: Salon des Independants – Hygienic Art Galleries, New London, CT

In The Pink - Hygienic Art XXXII: Salon des Independants – Hygienic Art Galleries, New London, CT

Faber Birren National Color Award Show – Stamford Art Assoc. CT. Samantha Rippner, Associate Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Juror

The Sixth Crossing Annual Juried Exhibition – Juried Invitational, Hygienic Art Galleries, New London, CT, Janice La Motta, Juror - Honorable Mention

Hygienic Art XXXII: Salon des Independants – Hygienic Art Galleries, New London, CT

2010 Faber Birren National Color Award Show – Stamford Art Assoc. CT. Samantha Rippner, Associate Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, Juror

Open Art Show: Anything Goes – Essex Art Association, Lou Bonamarte, Juror - Essex Art Association Award

MAC Members Exhibition – Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT

Sonambulo – Federico Garcia Lorca Exhibition – Expressiones Cultural Center, N. London, CT
67th Annual Connecticut Artists Exhibition – The Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, CT, Leslie Lillien Levy, Juror

Hygienic Art XXXI: Salon des Independants – Hygienic Gallery, N. London, CT

2009 53rd Regional – Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT

BULGARIA // Then + Now – Hygienic Gallery, N. London, CT

Art and Science Connections – Hygienic Gallery, N. London, CT

Hygienic Art XXX: Salon des Independants – Hygienic Gallery, N. London, CT

2008 White House Christmas Tree Ornament – Selected by Senator Joe Lieberman as his Designated Artist for Connecticut. Work resides in permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Faber Birren National Color Award Show – Stamford Art Assoc. CT, Nora Rockwell Lawrence, Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Modern Art, NY Juror.

Crossing the Bridge – Juried Invitational, Hygienic Gallery, New London, CT, Jeffrey Anderson, Director, Florence Griswold Museum, Juror

Annual Members’ Show – Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT

2007 Crossing the Bridge – Juried Invitational, Hygienic Gallery, New London, CT, Barkley L. Hendricks, Juror

2006 - CCT Arts in Public Spaces – Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s Washington D.C. Office.

2006 New Haven Symphony Orchestra - Decorate Art Violin - Finalist.

2005 Latin Views – International invitational exhibit, Davis, River Galleries, Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT

Crossing the Bridge – Juried Invitational, Hygienic Gallery, Ronald L. Crusan, Dir Lyman Allyn Art Museum, Juror

Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society – Lyme Art Association, Lyme, CT

ALVA Gallery – Silent Auction for ISAAC School, New London, CT

2004 Fragment – Mystic Arts Center, Mystic, CT, Keith L. Reynolds, Juror - Honorable Mention

2003 Spring Show – Corporate Gallery Collection, Boston Art, Boston, MA

2002 Focus on Two – Urban Artists Initiative Southeast Region Exhibition, Norwich Arts Council Gallery, Norwich, CT

The Colors of Freedom – Charles A. Shepard III, Dir Lyman Allyn Art Museum, Juror - Honorable Mention

1995 The Connecticut Open, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT. David Pease, Dean, Yale School of Art, Juror

Faber Birren National Color Award Show, Stamford Art Museum, CT. Cora Rosevear, Associate Curator, Museum of Modern Art, Juror

Public Collections

Smithsonian Institution Permanent Collection
Connecticut Governor’s Residence Conservancy
Alexey von Schlippe Gallery Permanent Collection
I-Park Artist Enclave
Smolyan Gallery, Bulgaria