Patrick currently lives and works in Iowa City, IA, where he recently retired as a professor of art at the University of Iowa. He received his BFA from the University of Georgia and his MFA from the University of Colorado. He began teaching at Iowa in 1965, and served as the head of the drawing program in the School of Art and Art History.
Working in watercolors, oils, photography, and drawing media, the artist finds much of his inspiration through the life and landscape of Oaxaca, Mexico, where he and his wife Genie spend their summers. The market’s everyday life of tarps, crates, and ropes often go ignored by the people who live and work around them. However, Patrick finds the hidden beauty among the stalls’ dramatic lighting, shapes, lines, and textures. The city’s domestic patios and gardens challenge the artist to catch their peaceful but vibrant and abundant setting. It is a world of planned and manicured beauty, and of unexpected beauty.
The artist describes his work “as being like stages for human action… past, present, and future.” Of extreme importance to the artist is the task of conveying an awareness of time, both passing and standing still. The Mexican streets, buildings and gardens become metaphors for the lives passing through them. The artist has been featured in numerous exhibitions and his work can be found in many public and private collections, including Interstate Assurance Company, Pella Corporation, Farm Bureau, and Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Joseph Patrick, Hammock, 2004. Watercolor. Image courtesy of the artist.
Joseph Patrick, Vine-Light, 2004. Watercolor. Image courtesy of the artist.
Joseph Patrick, Shafts, 2005. Oil on linen. Image courtesy of the artist.
