ABOUT NEIL PATTERSON:

Neil Patterson is an international artist and workshop instructor. He studied at the University of Calgary, first in Fine Arts and, later, in the Ceramic Arts Department. He focused on his ceramics practice for the next 14 years until he was forced to give it up because of carpal tunnel syndrome and, in 1984, a diagnosis of chronic tendonitis. Switching back to painting, which he had really never given up, was an easy choice for Patterson. "It's (painting) much like making pots. You play with the clay and I guess I've approached painting the same way. I like to be the creator, to put pure spots of colour on the canvas and have them represent something." Patterson is now an international artist and workshop instructor. He is a member of the Salmagundi Club in New York, a signature member of the Alberta Society of Artists, Federation of Canadian Artists, and the first Canadian to be awarded signature membership in the Oil Painters of America. In 1995 and 1996, he achieved "Top 100" and "Top 200" in Arts for the Parks. He was a finalist in the Artist's Magazine landscape competition and his flower painting was chosen out of thousands for publication in The Best of Flower Painting published by North Light Books.