Camera or brush?

Local artist clicks into a debate that is centuries old

By Melissa Hiatt
Enterprise art critic

Painting from a photograph always has been a sketchy business.

Yet, since its invention, the camera has served many painters in their quest to capture a fleeting moment, convey expressions or evoke movements missed by the anticipatory eye.

Julie Patterson doesn't consider herself a photographer. She uses a camera to capture the moment, and does so. The gift here is that she really knows which moment to capture.

Her show of "photo-based mixed media" at the Davis Art Center's Tsao Gallery depicts scenes from Southern England and our own Napa Valley. And while she begins with a camera, the results are so bathed in texture and golden light that they closely resemble oil paintings.

Standing in front of Patterson's "Red Wing Black Bird," I'm softly reminded of the Dutch master Vermeer. Somehow, more than 300 years have gone by, and — while staring at an image of two blackbirds on a wire fence — the dark clouds and golden light in "View of Delft" come right to mind.

Like Vermeer, Patterson's art is deeply accessible; that's one of its greatest pleasures. "Red Wing Black Bird" is anchored by dark clouds and a warm, light-filled field. The forefront depicts the striking contrast of the blackbirds.

Vermeer anchored "View of Delft" with breathtaking dark clouds and a cityscape washed in his sandy, textured light. Interestingly, historians have found that, as compared to topographical drawings of the time, Vermeer altered the cityscape in "View of Delft" to serve his composition.

Many of his changes flattened the landscape.

Just like a camera would.

The use of a camera by painters has inspired great debate among critics, historians and even physicists. While arguments are many, the crux of the issue stems from the ability of the lens to flatten the scene for the painter.

David Hockney recently inspired a huge controversy with the Hockney-Falco thesis. The gist of the argument from the artist and physicist is that many great European masters — such as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Diego Velazquez, Jan van Eyck and Rubens — used optical devices like the camera obscura (long linked to Vermeer), camera lucida and curved mirrors to aid them in their work.

Historians, defending the old masters, strive to dispel Hockney's assertion by showing that the same results can be achieved from the creation of a grid. This is true: After all, the perspective achieved from a camera is based on the same system of perspective found in Renaissance painting.

The question doesn't appear to be about the results, but rather the method. And all this seems to beg the question: Why not see the camera simply as a tool?

Grid is to camera, as long division is to calculator.

Along with many artists throughout the centuries, Patterson uses her Canons and Minoltas as tools. Her interpretations of Southern England and the Napa Valley landscape use new technology to create an old feeling. And she loves new technology. The digital revolution offered her immediacy and, with it, the ability to convey the feeling of "the moment."

Previously, she did a lot of waiting: shooting, taking film to the lab, waiting, more waiting, and finally getting a couple of images that would become a jumping-off point. Then, going back to the lab for enlargements and more waiting.

All this waiting holds a detachment that is difficult for many artists.

Patterson notes that "digital cameras, scanners and photo editing software are much more suited to my personality." With the goal of conveying the essence of what she was feeling when looking through the lens, she works in a blend of the digital and physical.

Her creative process begins with a single photograph; she then works tirelessly in Photoshop to remove everything that isn't essential. She continues to both digitally and physically enhance each piece with multiple overlays of texture, color and image.

Finally, when the work is ready, she mounts it to a hand-built box that might be either convex or concave, and begins a tedious process of sanding and varnishing, which provides further depth to her work. She then adds paint, colored pencil, chalk and many layers of wax and polish, to bring each piece to its glowing completion.

The results are worth seeing.

Patterson trained at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and San Francisco State University in graphics, drawing, pastels and watercolor. Her work recently placed in the Napa Valley Mustard Competition, and she has participated in exhibitions from San Francisco to San Rafael.

Take advantage of her first solo journey to the Central Valley and head over to the Davis Art Center.