Even though I may become infatuated with subjects inspired by exposure to the new and unfamiliar, I invariably return to my enduring love of portraying figures. The full spectrum of our human experience is exalted through the communication of figures: Figures in movement, in repose; figures in expression of emotion or apathy, in exhibitions of strength as well as weakness; in classical youthful beauty or in forms we might not choose to see; in the malice of antagonism or the nexus of kinship, love and fraternity. Whether I’m giving emotion to a figure, placing one in a natural pose or active movement; capturing reality; depicting a condition of existence or even the imagined and fantastic, I am unceasingly motivated and challenged as an artist with the limitless possibilities provided by the richness of humanity. My philosophies, meaning and purpose inextricably joined in Humanism are translated in my paintings of the human figure.

 

Patti Provost’s formal art training began as a student at the Atlanta College of Art where she studied oil painting with instructors Ben Shute, Bruce Hafley, Comer Jennings and James Yarbrough. As her painting style developed, Patti moved away from the Rembrandt method with its limited palette and progressed to a more modern style with acrylic paints through study with Ouida Canaday at the Artists’ Atelier of Atlanta. Following Canaday’s death and with a desire to continue in this vein, Patti became a private student of Joseph Perrin, founder and first chairman of the Art Department of Georgia State University. From this instruction and gaining the knowledge of the color theories of Chevreul, Patti’s focus on color became one of the most important elements within her paintings.

Patti pursued further formal education at Georgia State University in a Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking curriculum with her primary instructor, Professor Larry Walker. Her painting “Too Serious” was juried into the 2002 GSU Student Art Show and her “Spoon head” series was chosen to be the single representation of the Art Department in the 2003 GSU Film and Art Show. Patti graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2003 at GSU with her Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Paintings by Patti have been exhibited in many juried art shows which include Artists’ Atelier of Atlanta; Dunwoody Fine Art Association; Atlanta Artists Center; Art Station; Atlanta Botanical Gardens; Callaway Gardens; Barnsley Gardens; Decatur Arts Festival and Mercer University Atlanta. Her work has also been curated into five one-woman art shows. Patti is a member of the National Museum of Women in the Arts; Atlanta Artists Center and The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.