Observer
I have lived in Toronto, Ontario for five decades, raising two sons who are both artists.
My delight in painting came to me after a career as a biologist led me to look closely at the world around me and appreciate its variety, beauty and excitement.
In my work as an entomology researcher at the Royal Ontario Museum, I discovered how keen observation with a microscope led me to distinguish small variability in my study specimens. These insects were minute and the only way to illustrate them was to draw them, and so I learned the advantages of observing and describing characters that were generally unseen.
Patricia MacCulloch, BA, BSc., MSc.
Describer
Drawing insects in my role as a
biologist led me to try a different approach to depicting the
fascinating life around me.
I discovered painting with watercolour,
a rich and challenging medium. Colours are ever-changing and
beautiful in their complexity.
I have encouraged my creative instincts
to interpret and describe objects and experiences in my life.
This has led to my philosophy of finding beauty and excitement
which can be expressed and shared with everyone.
Watercolourist
I paint what I see, and I see excitement
and beauty in the world around me. Always I am engaged by and
interpret my surroundings as something to be arranged and
understood in a painterly fashion. Shapes, colours, spatial
relationships, darks and lights – these are the bases of my
observation discipline.
While my rendering of subjects is often
painstaking and detail oriented, there are occasions when
exuberance is the operative principle. Flowers, for example, are
undisciplined in my work. Sunrises always surprise me into
thinking of the ever-changing skies.
I have enjoyed accumulating my favorite
paintings, and I hope my “describing” of my world is pleasing to
you.