Ebb & Flow of Life's Journey

featured heARTist Mrs. Patsy Tidwell-Painton

Even though Patsy's college degree was in Business Administration, she has always been intrigued with crafts. Working with her hands was her goal rather that sitting in an office. Patsy evolved from a kindergarten administrator to the manager of St Andrews Episcopal Church Annual Tea Room & Gift Shop that featured handmade gifts, paintings and crafts. Under her guidance, the charity earned over $30,000. This experience proved to her that art and business could be combined.

In her pursuit of an education in art, Patsy began classes at the College of Charleston studying under William Halsey and Corrie McCallum. Discovering that there was no art supply store in the city, she opened a full service art supply store, a frame shop and an art gallery that featured locally and nationally known artists. Later on, she sponsored workshops and weekly classes for artists in the area. As Patsy worked on her own painting style, she financially contributed to College of Charleston exhibits and served on the board of the Halsey Gallery (now the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art).

Patsy was dedicated to art and and her business that provided so much for the city and its artists. Her many commitments made it difficult for her to find her own voice in art when suddenly , life as she knew it came to an end. In 2007, an aneurysm in her brain ruptured, leaving her physicians believing Patsy would not recover. After many operations and a two-month hospital stay, she began to surprise everyone with her determined recovery. Miraculously, after regaining her strength, she began living a different life. Selling her business and pursuing her art education, she became a successful full-time artist.

During her recovery, in Charleston and in Cape Cod, Patsy used Sudoku puzzles to assist in recovering her memory and focus. She became even more aware of the miracle that was her new life. She woke each day knowing she would spend it creating.

Throughout these years since regaining her health, Patsy has shown her work in the Mary Martin Gallery, Low Country Artists Gallery in Charleston and in many other galleries, libraries and museums in South Carolina, WellFleet, Ma., Orleans, Ma., Sotheby's Gallery in Orleans, Ma., The Creative Art Center in Chatham, Ma. and the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth, Ma.

Patsy's paintings contain the elements of the Soduku puzzles that helped her heal. They also include a celebration of movement and are touched with an awareness of the gift of time. Patsy says "Life is a puzzle... I invite you to master it and learn your own puzzle's meaning."

https://patsytidwellpainton.com/