Featured Artist Patricia J. Finley

Artist Patricia J. Finley showcases a selection of her colorful abstract acrylic and resin paintings. Find more of her work by visiting her website.

 

 

Long ago and far away on a distant land called Arizona, I was a thriving trial lawyer, but then the universe intervened. My husband became ill. We retired and moved to our cabin in Southwest Colorado outside of Ouray.

He recovered. The marriage did not.

 

 

I soon realized that life in “Mayberry” aka Ouray (a town of 800 people) was not for me. I escaped to Denver and began to figure out what the rest of my life would look like.

 

 

I had started creating art during my divorce with the encouragement of a dear friend who had been a professional artist for many years. Given that the answer to the question, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” was art, with her encouragement (read—pushing, demanding, insisting) I tried my hand at selling the art that I had been creating for years.

 

 

To my rather complete astonishment, at my first art fair I sold 13 pieces. To paraphrase Sally Field, “They like me [or my art]. They really like me [or my art].” My art career was launched.

 

 

I started out creating paper collages. They were fun and interesting. But then, once again, the universe intervened. I happened to see the work of an artist who scattered drops of resin over paper. The scattered resin looked like raindrops. I just had to try to recreate that effect, so I bought some resin.

 

 

I’ve been hooked on resin ever since.

 

 

I create abstract art with colored resin—clear resin to which I add acrylic paint, pigment and ink. The best thing about resin is the way that it makes colors pop. The bright pops of color that is resin’s signature, coupled with the depth that is created by resin, continue to fascinate me.

 

 

Resin has the consistency of maple syrup so it is a bit of a challenge to work with. No one can actually “paint” with resin as resin sticks permanently to anything it touches; because of this, I use cancelled credit cards, gift cards and craft sticks to move the resin around on the surface of a wood panel.

 

 

Resin sets up quickly, within half a day. Once it’s set, it can’t be changed, modified or erased. Given the fast set up, I have to be decisive about composition while simultaneously remaining flexible because some of my ideas just don’t work out with this liquid medium. For me, however, that’s the fun of it—the challenge.

 

 

 

While I think of myself as an abstract artist, some of my pieces are clearly landscapes. Indeed, one of my friends said she thought all of my art was landscapes. I don’t know about that, but I do agree that resin lends itself to the creation of art that looks like mountains and rolling hills; or maybe I am just inspired by mountains, which would explain why I live in Colorado.

 

Artist Patricia J. Finley invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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