I’m compelled to learn the techniques of the old masters

Artwork by Patricia Stine

To this day, not unlike when I was five, the smell of crayons or tempura paint transports me to faraway places. Like the rest of my friends, whose fathers were in the military, we moved twice a year to different states and countries. I loved the adventure. My bags were sitting at the door awaiting our next move.

I loved the scenic and cultural changes, whether taking walks in foggy Bavarian forests, or riding a bony horse bareback through the Mojave desert; each place had its unique experiences.

In Indonesia a talented Muslim artist taught me portrait painting after he showed the chickens out of his studio each morning.

In El Hongo Mexico, where I stayed with friends, I felt inspired to paint after dancing, in my flip flops with an eighty year old Sandinista shaman under the starry desert sky.

Here in California, I learned the beauty of Impressionism and pointillism from a master painter from Gujarat.

Art expresses life, love, humor, passion and frames the divine. It unveils the soul and reveals fresh perspectives. It is what I live for each day!

I’m compelled to learn the techniques of the old masters. I wish to refine my drawing, achieve harmony, new compositions, get the proportions correct the first time, and master the colors.

It’s the human figure that I’d like to perfect. To me, it’s the biggest challenge with the greatest rewards. The Old Masters Academy cultivates competent artists in these areas. So that’s my goal.

I’d like to integrate the life passion that I feel being a nomadic artist with a solid foundation in classical art. I’d like to share other worlds through my art with viewers and am better able to accomplish this through classical discipline which realistically, yet beautifully expresses thoughts and feelings so poetically.