Nancy Patterson

Folk Art Painting Africa Dance Music Animal Morocco Desert Gnawa Music Dog Camel

2014

Born in Canada in the 1930s and following a bohemian childhood, Nancy Patterson was instilled with a passion for exploration and places afar.

After graduating with an art degree from Vancouver College of Art in 1957, Nancy travelled to the renowned artist colony in the UK — St Ives in Cornwall. She wanted to combine her wanderlust with her love of making things. Friends were working with renowned potters Janet and Bernard Leach. Life was full of parties and artist led.

Nancy moved into the studio at Patrick Heron’s Eagles Nest, Francis Bacon arrived with his friend Ron, and Ben Nicholson was down the road. Other guests were not only artists such as Terry Frost, Bryan Wynter, Roger Hilton and many more, but also people in the art business like Bertha Schafer from New York, Theo Waddington from London and critic Clement Greenberg from the USA.

Nancy met Mark Rothko at Peter Lanyon’s place in Carbis Bay. It was at one of these parties that she met artist Anthony Benjamin, "a delightful puckish Peter Pan character who had recently returned from several months on a French Government Bourse in Paris, studying printmaking at William Hayter’s famously innovative Atelier 17. Ant and I were good at jiving and often met at parties...then one night we danced out the door to Peggy Lee's 'Fever' and spent the greater part of the next forty-plus years together, usually having a good time and always involved in something to do with art."

Connected with the centre of the London art world in the 60s 70s and 80s, Nancy subsequently worked on sculptures with Benjamin, hung out with Brian Eno, made props and models for the "Doctor Who" TV series and taught at Ealing College of Art. She ran the Graffiti Gallery, curated exhibitions, and was involved in projects at prestigious institutions such as the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts in London). She always found a particular pleasure in associations with non-Western art and artists.

Following trips to Marrakesh with Anthony and his untimely death in 2002, a couple of years later Nancy returned to Marrakesh where she met Daoud, a trader in Berber goods. He spoke English well and had a sense of fun. She shared a telling meal with Daoud and his friends, "a meal cooked to perfection with aromatic spices and lots of black olives, probably better than what you would get in a fancy restaurant." At the end of the meal, Daoud said, "This is our last day. We are leaving tomorrow. Do you want to go to the desert?" Nancy replied, “Okay."

"Days in the Desert Sun, Nights Under the Magical Moon" is a compelling set of paintings in the Folk idiom made by Nancy about her life on the edge of the desert in southern Morocco. The paintings tell the tales of the community that over the past 18 years the artist has become part of.

Find original Nancy Patterson paintings on 1stDibs.