FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact:
Valerie Patterson, artist
herter12953@yahoo.com
(518) 569-6269
EXAMINING SOCIAL, PERSONAL AND POLITICAL MOMENTS THROUGH ART
ART TO START THE CONVERSATION BY VALERIE PATTERSON
WHAT: Book Launch Event, ART TO START THE CONVERSATION by Valerie Patterson
WHERE: Ogdensburg Public Library, 312 Washington St. Ogdensburg, NY
WHEN: Saturday, December 17, 2022, 1-3pm
Powerful images can transcend the merely decorative; illustrating thoughts and ideas, urging us to think and feel, provoking conversation across differences, and drawing us toward the possibility of change. Combining intense emotion with a proficient attention to detail, Northern New York artist Valerie Patterson’s watercolor paintings take us outside of our comfort zones and ask us to examine life’s most vital questions and concerns.
Now, for the first time, ART TO START THE CONVERSATION [978-0-9962883-3-0; $24.95; ABCarlson Publishing; January 2023] binds together 40 of Patterson’s most compelling images with the artist’s commentary, offering unique glimpses of the artist’s empathy and compassion as well as illuminating many details of her creative process.
Loosely grouped into chapters representing the passage of time, childhood, visceral emotions/responses, and the discovery process, the featured images represent some of Patterson’s most compelling images from a career spanning nearly 40 years of creating and teaching art. Introducing the collection, Renee Phillips, Director/Curator of Manhattan Arts International (NYC, NY), affirms that Patterson’s “inimitable style and technical prowess as a watercolor painter are matched by her profound insight that resonates truth, knowledge and understanding of the human condition.” Asked about her long dedication to provocative art, Patterson said; “Once I realized the tremendous power that images can have to make people comfortable or uncomfortable, happy or sad, settled or unsettled, I knew I had a voice. I decided to use my voice to encourage people to see, think and feel – something not always valued in our culture.”
To celebrate the launch of her new book, and with some of her paintings on display, Patterson will be at the library to meet members of the community and sign copies of the book. The book launch offers a special, early-bird opportunity to purchase the book at a discount, ahead of the official release date of January 16, 2023. Light refreshments will be served.
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ART TO START THE CONVERSATION by Valerie Patterson
ABCarlson Publishing
Paperback; January 16, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-9962883-3-0
$24.95; 11 x 8 ½, 68 pages
About the Artist:
Born in 1963, Patterson grew up in Ogdensburg, NY, the daughter of a Presbyterian Minister and public-school teacher whom she credits for her humanitarianism. An excruciatingly shy child, Patterson spent much of her time alone: thinking, feeling, dreaming and watching… Her interest in art began in earnest in Junior High School, when she quickly learned that she could communicate more easily visually. Patterson earned degrees in both art and education, followed by careers spanning nearly 40 years creating and teaching art. Asked when she decided to focus on art that conveys social and political messages, Patterson responded, “It gradually evolved as I was creating art that was meaningful to me. Once I realized the tremendous power that images can have to make people comfortable or uncomfortable, happy or sad, settled or unsettled, I knew I had a voice. I decided to use my voice to encourage people to see, think and feel – something not always valued in our culture.”
Patterson’s award-winning watercolor paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout the United States in both group and solo exhibitions. These include The Bond St. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY; The Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA; The Arts & Literature Laboratory in New Haven CT; The Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, NY; The Baltimore Watercolor Society in Baltimore, MD; The Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, NY; The Visual Arts Center At Clarington, Ontario, Canada; The Fredericksburg Center For Creative Arts in Fredericksburg, VA; and Lake Placid Center For The Arts in Lake Placid, NY.
Patterson’s awards include: First Prize in The Dayton Ohio International Peace Museum, Art for Peace International Juried Exhibition. Juror’s Award Of Excellence for the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center, National Juried Exhibition: “Ebb & Flow: The Power Of Water.” Several Awards of Excellence and a Featured Artist Award from Manhattan Arts International. And, the Nelda Howell Memorial Award from the Hudson Valley Art Association’s 72nd Annual National Juried Art Exhibition (Hastings-On-Hudson, NY).
About the Publisher:
ABCarlson Publishing is a small publishing firm owned and operated by Dr. A. B. Carlson, of Keene, NH. The firm is dedicated to new and niche authors, offering an alternative for those for whom traditional publishing is out of reach, but find the idea of self-publishing overwhelming or too time consuming. ABCarlson Publishing primarily offers a standard book contract, publishing the works of authors that they believe will be profitable. The firm additionally offers some design, editing, and printing products on a fee-based schedule. Visit the publisher’s website (threeoranges.net) for ongoing news of recent and forthcoming books.