Artist's Statement & CV
My primary creative interest is making paintings, sketches & drawings from various landscape locations.
I aim to convey and reflect my visual and emotional experience in such work and pass on that personal vision to new viewers of my artwork.
Artist’s statement – May 2025
Clive has always been interested in painting the world around him since his early school days. On holidays, he learnt to paint landscapes with his father, which he continued and developed later. This interest would lead him to take an art degree at Manchester College of Art & Design, resulting in an early career as a product designer. Family commitments allowed him to run a successful commercial company using his creativity. His interest in painting landscape subjects remained, and now, with developed skills, he can devote himself to painting full-time.
His recent work has moved from a strict representational depiction of subjects that deal with colours, shadows and patterns to abstract concepts within landscape. This direction has allowed him to focus on forms and structures in a scene that still represent the subject, but allow a wider interpretation of colour, texture and features within the painting. Certain forms and boundaries become visually exciting patterns, allowing the creator and viewer to share the experience that is the ‘life of a painting’. Clive uses rough drawings as a starting point for a picture, developing the structure of a painting with ‘loose’ rendered paint marks, which he then works up as the painting progresses, revealing those important links to the observed location.
Underlying core colours set the fundamental tone of his paintings, often applying contrasting colours to emphasise form and pattern, providing vibrancy and balance within the composition. Most of his pictures are square rather than a landscape rectangle format to encourage the viewer to ponder what may lie outside the boundaries of this restricted form.
Acrylic and occasionally oil paint are his chosen mediums, with the additional use of pastel crayon for under drawing. Most work is on prepared plywood, which supports heavy mark-making and thick impasto, forming an ideal base for scraping back or revealing underpainting.
Painters that have influenced his work are mainly from the pre- and post-war Cornish School and the mid-career work of Richard Diebenkorn. Interest in the work of more recent artists is that of Barbara Rae and American artists Wolf Khan and Brian Rutenberg.
Examples of my work can be found on
Instagram – @clivepatterson
Facebook clive@clivepatterson.com
Web: www.clivepatterson.com
Comment on abstraction
“An artist needs to be fluent in the languages of realism and abstraction.
“By realism I mean the formal aspects of art—the painting techniques and drawing skills we develop over time through experience.
“Abstraction is the other side of the coin, the visual language that frees us to paint and draw what is going on inside our heads. It means that I may be looking at a tree, but I want to paint power, life, majesty, and wisdom. The tree becomes a vessel for my message, not the message itself.”
— Courtney Jordan, Editor – Artist Daily
C.V.
Past & Present Exhibitions
2024
- Highgate Contemporary Art – Winter Show 2024
- Linden Hall Gallery –‘Winter Show’ – Deal, Kent 2024
- The Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2024 – at the Mall Galleries – London
- The Tarpey Gallery – Open Submission Show – 2024 Castle Donnington
- Ayot St Lawrence – Open Submission Show – 2024
2023
- Linden Hall Gallery –‘Winter Show’ – Deal, Kent 2023
- The Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2023 – at the Mall Galleries – London
- The Tarpey Gallery – Open Submission Show – 2023 Castle Donnington
- Ayot St Lawrence – Open Submission Show – 2023
- Folkstone Art Gallery – Spring Open Show – Folkstone CT 20 1RN
- Fitch & Fellows – Spring Show – Thame Oxon OX9 3EP
- The Royal Watercolour Society Open – 2023
2022
- The Collective Gallery – Colour & Form with the London Painters & Sculptors Group – St Albans
- Ayot St Lawrence – Open Submission Show – 2022
- Linden Hall Gallery –‘Winter Show’ – Deal, Kent 2022
2021
- Linden Hall Gallery –‘Winter Show’ – Deal, Kent 2021
- The Collective Gallery – Principles of Art – St Albans
- Childwickbury Arts Fair – Harpenden (participating artist 2021)
- Ayot St Lawrence – Open Submission Show – 2021
2020
- The Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2020 – annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries – London
- Linden Hall Gallery –‘Winter Show’ – Deal, Kent 2020
- Linden Hall Gallery –‘Lockdown Series’ – Deal, Kent 2020
2019
- Camden Image Gallery – London 2019
- Hertford Open Exhibition – 2019
2018
- Linden Hall Gallery – Winter Open Show – Deal, Kent 2018
- Royal Institute of Marine Artists – Mall Galleries, London 2018
- Iona House Gallery – Woodstock 2018
- Camden Image Gallery – London 2018
- (show with the North London Artists & Sculptors Group)
- Childwickbury Arts Fair – Harpenden (participating artist 2018)
- Ayot St Lawrence – Open Submission Show – 2018
- Nude Tin Can Gallery – St Albans – 2018 (Solo show)
2017
- The Strand Gallery – London (Group show with the North London Artists & Sculptors Group)
- Childwickbury Arts Fair – Harpenden (participating artist 2017)
- Tinca Gallery – Portishead (North Somerset Arts week)2017
- Art Dialogues, Espacio Gallery
- Childwickbury Arts Fair
- Somerset Arts Week, Tinca Gallery,Portishead
- Colour & Form, The Strand Gallery, London
2016
- Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Mall Gallery
- Childwickbury Arts Fair
- Joint showing, Tinca Gallery, Portishead
2015
- Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Mall Gallery
- Place & Space, Espacio Gallery, London
- Horizon, Nude Tin Can Gallery, St Albans
- Hertford Open Exhibition
- Landscape & City, Camden Image Gallery, London
2014
- Making Seen, Espacio Gallery, London
- Mixed Show, Camden Image Gallery, London
- Points of View, Espacio Gallery, London
- Material Matters, Espacio Gallery, London
- Hertford Open Exhibition
- Tudor House Gallery, Sawbridgeworth
2013
- St Albans Art Society, Best in Show
- Hertford Open Exhibition
- New Artists Fair, Candid Gallery, Islington, London
2012
- Short listed for Royal Institute of Oil Painters Open
- Short listed for NEAC Open
- Cork Street Open Exhibition
- Short listed for the ING Discerning Eye
- Hertford Open Exhibition
2011
- St Albans Art Society Summer Exhibition
2010
- Hertfordshire Visual Art Forum Open Exhibition
- University of Hertfordshire Open Exhibition
- St Albans Art Society Summer Exhibition
2009
- University of Hertfordshire Open Exhibition
- St Albans Art Society Summer Exhibition, Commended
Selected Work
2010
- Painting selected for display in the St Albans Crown Court of Justice