Rising Stars: Meet Pat Watson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pat Watson.

Hi Pat, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’m thinking the story you’re most interested in is the journey of my art. I was born to a very affluent and self-indulgent family, a group that was strongly attracted to the pursuit of pleasure. For them, I was a joy and a burden. I was recruited for a beautiful baby contest which was also a substantial problem for people who wanted a beautiful baby on the hip for admiration but didn’t want to deal with the complications of some severe childhood illnesses on my part.

To solve the latter, they’d give me heavily medicated cough syrup, add whiskey to my baby bottle, put me in my bedroom, and close the door. For such reasons, I became an angry and dissociated child, which only got worse after my alcoholic parents divorced and I was left in the care of my constantly inebriated and sometimes suicidal mother. I got through all of that and in high school, I faked my way into the appearance of a semi-normal adolescent.

From there, I got into college and through the pathway of philosophy, literature, art, some psychedelic experiences, and plenty of fun in the outdoors, I grew into a mostly functional adult. The illusion that I’d left my past behind me was dissolved with the death of my father when relentless nightmares of traumatic childhood experiences sent me to the therapist’s couch.

As part of my journey, I took my interests in the creative arts and other esoteric pathways of understanding and created an artist-made book that reflected my experiences, an expression that wasn’t a journal, diary, or confessional but an exploration of how disruptive experience, creatively explored, can open a pathway to a deeper understanding and expression of what it means to be alive.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My struggles have primarily been internal. Through the good graces of genetic inheritance, I was gifted a pleasant appearance, capable intelligence, and the ability to communicate effectively. Underneath that, I’ve had a seemingly never-ending tumult of disruptive thoughts and feelings that come from memory, distress,s, and imagination. Emotionally, I’ve had periods where my struggle has disrupted my life in significant ways.

Bankruptcy, multiple divorces, shifting jobs, kids in prison, and then recovery. These events, added to the expected bumps along the road of life have caught me between the gift of being alive as who I am and being tormented by what goes on inside. Through the gifts of creativity, perseverance, and a modest sense of humor, I’ve been able to work with what I’ve got and create a life that’s more open-ended and satisfying.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The current project I’m excited about is an avenue of creativity I find particularly unique, expressive, and compelling, the artist’s made book. For my graduate degree thesis project, I authored a work that combined experimental imaging techniques with digital, darkroom, and traditional techniques, together with non-traditional narrative passages into a large-format book that was unique, expressive, and a turning point in my life.

That project, as a process and a completed entity opened pathways of understanding that helped me come to terms with major events in my life, both good and bad. It also opened doors professionally and provided me with the opportunity to work in commercial art and design and eventually go on to a successful career teaching college and university art.

I suppose what I’m most known for is my understanding that the creative impulse is a wonderful and ever-present part of our lives and offers each of us an opportunity for freedom of exploration and deeply personal understanding that’s necessary for growth and satisfaction with our lives. The project I created and its catalyzing effect on my life is something each of us should attempt somewhere along the line.

Currently, I’m revising the project, updating it with new techniques and technology, and incorporating life lessons learned since its first iteration. If everything goes right, when it’s complete, I’ll show it and offer workshops that will help others grow in their lives and expand their understanding of their own experience in profound ways without being maudlin or overly confessional.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
You can keep updated on the progress of my project by going to this link (https://www.patwatsonart.org/the-perfect-patient) and, if you’re in the high desert area of California, I have an upcoming show at the 29 Palms Gallery in May.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.patwatsonart.org
• Instagram: @watsonianman
• Facebook: @Pat Watson