"Forever Grandma's Garden"
Oil Painting
24" x 36"
Framed.
Patricia Rhoden Bartels
For Patricia Rhoden, painting has been her obsession and passion spanning for over 50 years. She began seriously painting in college while earning her MFA in painting and sculpture. Trying to constantly challenge and reinvent herself, she frequently takes breaks from her norm to go in a new direction or form of expression. Patricia's evolution has been fired by her philosophy that each painting is another learning, educational experience. Best known for her gold and silver leaf florals, she was inspired by her travels to Europe and Africa where leafing is commonly found in Mosques and Cathedrals. Patricia's oil paintings celebrate the exceptional beauty of nature through the use of vibrant color applied in impressionistic broken brush strokes. Her landscapes are not to be forgotten-they have won many prizes in regional and national competitions. She is the recipient of prestigious grants from the National Endowment for Humanities and the Arts, the Indiana Arts Commission, the American Council of International Education, and the Eli Lilly Endowment. Patricia's paintings are part of numerous museum and private permanent collections including Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Indiana State Museum, Evansville Museum, Eli Lilly Collection, and the Kelley School of Business Collection at IU. Patricia's political, Anti-War painting series, The Madonna of Kosovo, is a part of the permanent collection at the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, Alabama.
She is married with two grown sons and five grandchildren that fill her life with joy but painting is her voice and through it, she can express who she really is.
Artist's Statement
Creating rhythms, movements and most importantly vibrations of light and color, a painting is capable of evoking an emotional expression unlike the experience of simply looking at recognizable objects. A painting must stand alone, not merely as a representation of an object from the real world, independent of recognizable imagery. I aspire for my paintings to function on a level of abstraction, never conveying a literal representation. I delight in color simply for the sake of color, recognizing that colors and shapes are organized into recognizable subjects is secondary to the importance of color and light. Slashing emotional brush strokes, scintillating and vibrating follow the movements of thick paint, applied in the impasto technique creating flickering touches of light and color.
Patricia on Her Paintings
……For me, above all else, it is about vibrant, exciting, emotional color that dances across the picture plane. Next, shapes build eye movements that carry the observer through my painting. Finally, the impasto texture makes the observer want to touch my art. Subject matter comes much later.
The Gold and Silver Leaf have a life of their own. As the lighting changes they respond and reflect their environment. It is as if it is alive. Slashing brush strokes evoke an emotional quality. They whisper who the painter really was. Sunflowers remind me of people in a crowded room. It seems like they are talking to each other. A few of them feel left out.
Certain colors contrast the gold and silver leafing. Like the French Ultramarine blue in the irises. It is so lovely. The long stems of the Day Lilly allow them to dance in the slightest wind outside my window. The vibrant orange vibrates against the blue f the sky. Its about complementary colors.
Dabs of red paint against dabs of green Hip - Hop across the picture plane, again, its complimentary colors that cause your eye to dance. This painting is not just about a Poppy, it is much more. Light is Color and Color is Light, in the absence of light there is no color, and we are in darkness. My paintings are about LIGHT and COLOR.
Being more non-objective, less concerned about the subject, forces me to think about the important elements of art more, it causes me to think differently and challenges me.
EDUCATION:
Portland State University, Graduate Classes, 1990.
Bowling Green State University, Masters of Fine Arts, (MFA), Maj. Painting, Min. Art History & Sculpt., 1976.
Bowling Green State University, Masters of Arts Degree, (MA), Maj. Painting & Art History, Min. Sculpture, 1975.
Kent Blossom Summer Arts Program, Kent State University, Scholarship, 1973.
University of Hawaii, Honolulu Hawaii, Chinese Painting and Eastern Traditional Watercolor Techniques.
University of Toledo, School of Design Toledo Museum of Art, Bachelors of Art Ed. 1971.
Penland School of Crafts, North Carolina, Printmaking, Glass Blowing, Foundry, Sculptures, 1970.
VOCATION: Public School Art Teacher 1973 to 2013 Retired., Professional Artist/Painter 1973 to Present
AWARDS, ENDOWMENTS, GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
Global Indiana, Partnership to China, USA, 2010
Fulbright Hayes Summer Seminar, India, 2009
Eli Lilly Fellows Grant, Egypt, Studying Art Expressed in World Religions, 2009
Bloomington, Indiana Regional Arts Council, Outstanding Artist of the Year Award, 2006
Fulbright-Hayes Summer Seminar to Australia, June 2006
JFMF, Japanese Fulbright Memorial Grant Recipient, November 2005.
NEH, National Endowment of the Humanities Seminar Grant to Vienna Austria to design an Interdisciplinary Unit of Study, 4 weeks Summer, 2005.
TEA, Teachers of Excellence National Grant with The American Council of International Education, to Russia to teach about the USA, in Russia, 2005.
Indiana State Dept. Of Education, Interdisciplinary/ Cross Curricular Grant Recipient, summer 2004.
Bloomington Regional Art Council, Individual Artist Grant, 2005
Brown County Leadership Program, represented the Brown County Public Schools, 2003
Eli Lilly Creativity Grants, 1992 and 2002.
NEH, National Endowment for the Humanities, Artist and Research Grant, 1993.
Art Interest Scholarship, Toledo Museum of Art, 1973.
Kent-Blossom Summer Arts Scholarship, Kent State University, 1973.
Walbridge Sinclair Scholarship, Toledo Museum of Art, 1970.
WORK IN PERMANENT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
7 Paintings, The Civil Rights Museum & Institute, Acquisitioned Permanent Collection, Paintings Depicting a Women's Perspective of War. Series titled "The Madonna of Kosovo.", Birmingham, AL., 2001-2002.
2 Paintings, The Indiana State Museum, Acquisitioned Permanent Collection, 1999 & 2006.
1 Painting, The Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Acquisitioned Permanent Collection, 1974.
Several Paintings, Eli Lily Collections, Acquisitioned Permanent Collection Corp. Offices, Indianapolis, IN.
Ivy Tech State College, Acquisitioned Permanent Collection, Lawrenceburg, IN.
J.D. Byrider Inc., Acquisitioned Permanent Collection, Carmel, IN.
IU Kelley School of Business, Acquisitioned Permanent Collection, Bloomington, IN., 2008.
Evansville Museum of Art, Acquisitioned Permanent Collection, Evansville, IN., 2018.
HIGHLIGHTS OF JURIED AND PRIZE WINNING ART SHOWS
Indiana Heritage Arts, Cury Bohm Outstanding Landscape Award, 2018, Nashville IN.
Evansville Museum of Art, 2 Person Show, 2018, Evansville IN.
Hoosier Salon, Outstanding Landscape Award 2014 and 2015, Numerous Shows and Merit Awards, 1994-2014.
Hoosier Women Artists 2018, Indiana Statehouse, Indiana Arts.
Sali National Abstract Art Competition, 2nd Place, 2011.
Indianapolis Museum of Art. IMA, Indiana Artist Club, 2012 First Place.
Heartland Art Show, Indiana State Museum, Featured Artist, May 2010 - Feb. 2011.
Curator's Choice, Chosen Works from the Indiana State Museum Perm. Collection, Sept. - Nov. 2006.
Best of America National Juried Art Show, National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, 2004 - 2005.
Wabash Valley Exhibit, Swope Museum of Art, Merit Award 1983 through 2003.
South Side Art League Regional Competition, Prizes & Purchase Awards including 2003, Best of Show, Participant 1996 - 2013.
Indiana Heritage Arts, Numerous Prizes and Purchase Awards, 1995 - 2014, Most Outstanding Oil or Acrylic.
Indiana Artist Club Art Competition, Indianapolis Art Museum, Numerous Prizes & Purchase Awards, 1994-2014, including Outstanding Impressionistic Landscape 1997.
The National Exhibition, Akron Ohio, 1996.
National Art League Spring Exhibition, New York, NY, 1996.
Bowling Green State University Juried Alumna Show, 1996.
Fort Wayne Art Museum, One Person Show, 1974.
Whispers to Shouts Indiana Women Who Create Art, Indiana State Museum, Invitational Show, 2005.
PUBLICATIONS:
Appreciation of the Arts, an Integral Part of Curriculum, Indiana Department of Education, 2002, article.
Hoosier Painters of the 21st Century, by Mark Butterfield, published in 2005.
Mayer's International Art Sales Vo. 3, 6 Paintings Included, 2003.
All sales on original artwork are final. No discounts apply.