Patty Lynes has had an adventurous career as a landscape architect, all the while continuing to develop as an artist over the past 35 years. She has worked in Canada and abroad concurrently studying and developing as a visual artist. Her studio training includes the University of Guelph, London Polytechnic, U.K., OCAD University, Emily Carr University of Art & Design (ECUAD) and Dundas Valley School of Art (DVSA). She is now based in Hamilton. Her love of drawing from nature began in childhood. She is influenced by her explorations of landscapes and wilderness. Working primarily in oils she paints with loose gestural brushwork to capture the spirit of place. Her paintings strive to encompass in gesture the natural world especially through the changing light of day. Painting at sunrise of an interior lake or sketching as the sun sets in the quiet and calm are her happy places. Her landscapes convey an impression of place emphasizing form, colour, and light.
Recent awards include WAAH-126th Annual Juried Exhibition ‘Best in Show’, 2022; 10th annual Plein Air painting challenge, Helson Gallery, Georgetown, - 1st Place, 2023; Town of Kingsville, Migration Fall Festival – En Plein Air Competition-2nd Place, 2023.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My work strives to capture the impressions of light, colour, and movement. I have been sketching all my life, and painting for over 20 years. I am influenced by explorations of landscapes and wilderness. Many of my pieces are painted on location, where I strive to encompass in gesture the natural world especially through the changing light of day. In nature I seek out the silence sitting by the lake at first light, watching the sun rise, and the mist slowly clear, in solitude I feel peaceful and thankful. Painting at low light under an immense everchanging sky is glorious. I began canoe tripping in the 70’s and find this the best way to seek inspiration and solitude. I sketch or paint outdoors to get a feel for colour and light. My studio is based in Hamilton, where I enjoy the collaborative environment of the share space in the Cotton Factory. In the studio I develop larger pieces from field studies, or I complete paintings I’ve begun on site. My process begins with the use of oil pastel or charcoal stick to make some marks on an oiled ground, or rub the ground in to shape the composition, wiping away areas. I brush thin washes of dark, blending viridian and alizarin, or ultramarine and umber. Then I ghost in the white and judge my values. Paintings are windows that open to life and memory. Working primarily in oils, my style loosely represents my impressions of nature through the seasons.