 |
| |
 |
Photo by Elizabeth Patterson |
After Hours: The Artist
By Wendy Soderburg
Today Staff Writer
In this installment of “After Hours,” meet Elizabeth Patterson, a UCLA employee with a successful second career as an artist. Several years ago, she nearly gave it all up after her hand was crushed in a press-operating accident. It took persistent urging and the purchase of a drawing table by her partner, UCLA employee Suzanne Stinson, to convince Patterson to take up her colored pencils once again.
Title: Programmer Analyst III, Library Information Technology
When the Art Bug Struck: “I was making art for as long as I can remember. I graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1977. My mom died when I was a senior in high school, and I was on my own, so I just breezed through college and tried all kinds of art. And I graduated with no plan.”
Life-Changing Accident: “I was still doing art, but to pay the bills, I got a job as a press operator in a print shop and worked on a machine that I knew was not safe. I remember telling the foreman, somebody’s going to get hurt on this machine because it’s supposed to have a brake. As soon as you let go of the button, it should stop. But this one didn’t; it just kept rotating. And sure enough, I was the unlucky one. My right hand was pulled inside the press and crushed. This was in December 1984, and after it happened, it was two years of surgeries and physical therapy every day. I didn’t pick up a pencil or any art materials for 13 years.”
Secret Revealed: “Suzanne and I had been together for about a year when I took her back East to meet my father. We walked into his house, and she looked around and said, ‘Who did all this art?’ I said, ‘Oh, I did that.’ And she looked at me like, ‘What do you mean?’ I hadn’t told her anything; I’d
gotten to the point where I didn’t even
think of myself as an artist anymore. She
was appalled. She said, ‘Your talent is too enormous to let this go on.’ ”
First Project: “I sat down and did my first
drawing in 13 years. It was a frog diving into water. I was thinking, ‘My gosh, it’s still there.’ I can’t even describe the feeling — it was almost like coming home.”
Art Unleashed: “There are a few galleries where I have work on consignment, and I do certain art festivals. I do a year-end studio show at my house, and I also work with a consultant who places my work in restaurants, hotels and time-shares. My next show is the Affaire in the Gardens Art Show on May 20 and 21 in Beverly Hills. My art can also be seen on my Web site: www.eapfineart.com.”
Level of Partner Indulgence: “I think Suzanne feels like a widow now! But she’s a gardener and she’ll spend all day in the garden. She’s real independent. I love Suzanne for what she did for me. I’m very grateful to her.”
|
