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Patricia Dunbar

 

Member profile details

Membership level
Artist (Senior)
First Name
Patricia
Last name
Dunbar
 

Artist Info

Medium / Media
  • Painting / Drawing
  • Mixed Media / Assemblage
  • Photography
Artist Bio or Résumé
Solo Shows
2016, August Watercolors, Fitzwilliam Library, Fitzwilliam NH
2014, February “Watercolors from Here and Away”, Cloister Gallery, Marblehead, MA
2012, November Exhibit at Coldwell Banker, Salem, MA
2012, May “East Coast West Coast”, Grosvenor Gallery, Salem MA
2011, September “Passages: What Lies Beyond”, Cloister Gallery, Marblehead, MA
2009, February “Shared Passions: Railroad Architecture, Sunlight & Shadow”,
Cloister Gallery, Marblehead
Juried Shows
2016
November Three-person show, Cloister Gallery, Marblehead, MA
September Impressions of Salem, Salem Arts Center, Salem, MA
August World View, Salem Arts Center, Salem, MA
July Marblehead Festival of Arts, Marblehead, MA
June Summer Members Exhibit, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA
June Salem Arts Festival
May Fourth Annual Residency at the House of the Seven Gables, Salem, MA
April Beyond Words, Salem Arts Center, Salem, MA
March New England Regional Show, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA

2015
November Three-person show, Cloister Gallery, Marblehead, MA
November Winter Member’s Show, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA
September Ninth Peabody Essex Museum Inspiration Show: “Flux”, Salem, MA
July Marblehead Festival of Arts, Marblehead, MA
July Summer Members Exhibit, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA
June Salem Arts Walk, Salem, MA
June Salem Arts Festival, Salem, MA
June Annual Salem Arts Residency at the House of the Seven Gables, Salem, MA
February New England Region Exhibit. Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, MA
Artist Statement
AS A LIFE-LONG DESIGNER, with an interest in typography, drawing, photography, and painting, Pat has worked in these areas for a long time. She has been employed for most of her life as a graphic designer (which encompasses all these interests), mostly for book publishers and has won awards for her book covers. She has been painting, drawing, and doing extensive photography.
Pat paints with transparent watercolor. It’s a medium to which she has always been attracted. She loves watercolor for the clear colors, the transparency, and the washes that can be built up to create interesting surfaces. While watercolors are challenging, the medium is more forgiving than many people seem to think. She can remove paint by lifting or scratching the surface. Pat paints landscapes with a bit of the made-made coming into the picture—buildings, bridges, and roof lines. She also usually chooses to paint vertically rather than the traditional “landscape” horizontal placement. She likes the idea of painting a “slice” of the various layers in a scene.
City/country, summer/winter, colorful/little color, all interest her. It’s the design, the light, and balance that help her choose what to paint. Pat paints outside on site, usually smaller pieces; she also paints inside using her own photographs as subject matter. She loves to travel and record images of travel in her paintings. These painting are a way of sharing some of her favorite locations with others.
There have been a number of people who have taught and influenced Patricia. As a student at MSU, she was lucky enough to arrive at school for her senior year, just as Charles Pollock returned from sabbatical. She took every class he taught: calligraphy, etching, lithography, and graphic design. He was a wonderful and exacting teacher.
While working in New York City, she met and became friends with a painter of watercolors, Nita Engle. While she never took a lesson from her, she shared an apartment with Nita for several years and watched her work and learned a lot.
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Salem Arts Association
159 Derby Street 
Salem, MA 01970  
Phone: 978-745-4850 
Email: info@SalemArts.org


Hours 
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Parking: on street when available

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