The Jansen Art Center is pleased to welcome Ron Pattern for an exhibit of his work. The exhibit opens on March 11 and will be on display through May 28, 2021.

Artist Statement

The Seasonal Forest is inspired by a lifetime of wandering the temperate rainforest. I have always drawn and painted trees. Sometimes when I finish a painting, an unintended metaphor suggests my relationship to people and humanity.

Memorial was painted after the death of my lifelong friend. The snag stands long after his life ended. The tree surrounded by shadows represents the legacy of an individual human life. The raven, a spiritual animal in many cultures, symbolizes aspects of humanity, including death.

From the multi-colored and textured surface of a solid trunk to the filigree of the outermost branches, creative opportunities for rendering are endless. I like to take my paintings a step beyond realism, as in Sunlit Spruce, where textured surfaces are detailed in blue, indigo and violet shades—not necessarily expected in a tree portrait.

Many of my tree portraits are set in the deeply shadowed rainforest, with sunbreaks seeping through the canopy. This body of work begins in 1988 with a graphite rendering, Eagle Tree, and completes with the acrylic painting on panel, Winter Warmth. The warm pigments play off cool blue and green shadows, enhancing the painting’s spatial integrity. Other mediums included are watercolor, egg tempera, and acrylic on canvas.

Artist Bio

Ron Pattern has a studio at the Morgan Block Building in Historic Fairhaven. Collectors include Peace Health Hospital, Logan Danson and Associates, and other corporate and private collections.