Pat Hidson grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, and received a BEd from the University of Alberta. For some years writing, dance and painting competed for her creative energies. Subsequent to moving to Milwaukee her studies were continued at UWM and MIAD.  Several summer sessions with Henry Hensche at the Cape Cod School of art were important in learning about color, which has always been one of her strengths as a painter. Dance continues to inform her work as a sense of rhythm and movement in her compositions make evident. Valdek Dynerman at MIAD introduced her to gouache and it continues to be a basic medium for work on paper.

Every series that she has developed begins with conveying a sense of presence in a particular place or time. The series of gouaches on paper are inspired by gardens.  The recent oils on canvas are developed using sketchbook drawings done in everyday places; such as waiting rooms, coffee shops or the homes of friends. The process of transferring the simple ink drawings into paint allows for improvisation as patterns and color combinations emerge. 

“Pat Hidson’s paintings seem to combine the structure of the built world — our home interiors, sitting rooms, studies, and kitchens, with an unbridled explosive energy derived from nature. (Or sometimes it is the other way around). Her translations of these observed worlds hold a sense of release as if she is finally giving the old couch and its partnered end table their proper due. It feels as if any room that bears the imprint of a loved one is almost too much to consume, too saturated with life and love that it must be broken down through a process of painterly abstraction, a synthesis where the burdens of exertion or worry are omitted from the lived experience.”

Debra Brehmer, Owner/Director

portraitsocietygallery.com
207 E. Buffalo Street, Suite 526
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Hours: Thurs-Sat noon to 5 p.m.

Writer: hyperallergic.com/