Growing up in Southern California, my love for painting began in kindergarten with colorful landscape finger paintings of the school grounds, my childhood pets, and items around the house and yard--s. Stacks of paintings that I still have to this day, thanks to my beautiful mother's keen intuition to save them. Tucked away safe and sound for many years, I now pull them out, study them, and see my young uninhibited and talented mind at work. I think back to those days of crayon drawings and paper cutouts and remember it felt like really important work that I was doing at the time. Inspired by nature, my art has grown up, yet I have stayed true to the vivid colors that I used so long ago. In one saved drawing of our pet crow, I used an interesting color of orange rather than the typical black a crow would be;, a creative mind in the making. Still my favorite color, I quickly go through many tubes of orange paint now just like I went through orange crayons back then.

I'm an animal lover and a great supporter of many organizations and charitable events that share this love. I have helped raise funds through my art for groups that support animals and their well-being. My art has been auctioned to help fund animal enclosures for elephants, bears, and the transportation of horses for mMustang rescues across the country. It is these organizations that attract me for their charitable actions and the ability to attract animal lovers with kind hearts and love for wild animals depicted in artwork.

I currently reside in sunny Phoenix, Arizona, and have movinged here to study Design. After graduating, I realized this path was not the creative outlet that I desired. I began to find my artistic style by painting, creating, and experimenting with paints, inks, and sandstone, a stone that is very common here in Arizona. I quickly took to this stone as an unconventional medium, and fell falling in love with its flat, sandy texture, its beautiful deep reds, and subtle tans. I work professionally in two mediums:, acrylics and India ink. I love Loving both, but I never mixing the two. I enjoy all the bright, vibrant colors acrylics have to offer to my canvas, and how the simple nature of black ink complements the sandstone. Acrylic provides me with an outlet for large colorful expressions and sandstone satisfies my monochromatic days when my inner light isn’t shining as bright, but is still full of creative ideas. To break free from my usual, I attend artistic workshops for oil painting, Encaustic painting, photography and just about any other creative process that will feed my brain with. It is through these workshops that I expand my artistic abilities and stumble upon new and exciting ideas and ways to improve and take my paintings to the next level.

Aside from creating things, I feel most comfortable enjoying nature and the great outdoors, l. Living in Arizona, I have warm, sunny days most of the year to get out and explore. If I'm not locked in the studio on a creative spree, I thoroughly enjoy gardening in my tiny city backyard, caring for my koi pond and the many exotic tropical plants that surround it. , I go for sunrise hikes, jogging, tai chi, BBQ’s with friends, and slip and slides. During the best days of summer, I get in as many picnics as possible with anyone that I can drag along. I photograph the human body creatively in its natural state and I practice yoga on the tops of mountains.

For me, art is not a simple creative outlet; it is a simple way of life and passion. Art has improved my well-being, i. It calms my mind, and it has helped me to find beauty in my everyday personal life. Creating art is my way of sharing my mind and feelings with you, transporting you to that very moment when I finished a painting. I hope my art puts a smile on your face and a lasting impression on your mind.

For more information, see: http://www.viewpatricksart.com http://patrickmccrohan.wordpress.com/