An Artist’s Journey
I’ve seen both sides now.
I was born in 1937 in Globe. Arizona. For the first two years of my life I lived at the trading post housing on the San Carlos, Indian Reservation. Through my father’s vision and entrepreneurship, we moved to Santa Monica, California in 1939. That was the first major turning point in my life. But I believe my experiences, both as a California girl and as person with a very diverse and interesting background, has greatly influenced my art.
As most artists will say, I was always an artist in my soul. This caused a bit of concern among my more practical family. I was six years younger than my brother and we lived in an affluent neighborhood, with few playmates so I used that time to draw, design outfits for my paper dolls or write stories. I once wrote a play, directed it and, of course starred in the leading roll, with my playmates as the supporting cast. It was my last venture in that field of endeavor.
I was thrilled with the first day of school and those brand-new Crayola crayons. In the 1940’s there was more time for such things in grade school. I attended Santa Monica High School and I was fortunate to have the benefit of a comprehensive art department, including drawing, design, fashion design, painting, sculpture and life drawing. As a junior I was awarded a scholarship to study life drawing at Chouinard Art Institute. I was recognized as a standout artist, also winning an all LA City student competition for life drawing. In other words, I had many opportunities to follow my career in art. Looking back, like many other women of the Fifties, I had no desire for a career, nor a family that really thought art was all that important. And, like many young artistic souls, lacked confidence in my own talents.
After graduating from high school, I happily went off to the University of Washington. I studied art but the curriculum was light years behind what I was accustomed to. The classes were basic and frankly boring. And I was caught up in the excitement of being a coed and, at age 19, married my husband, Dick Richards, who was graduating and off for three years as a pilot in the Air Force. We had three wonderful sons and a full life, as we became part of our community in Ventura County. I must say, that women in the 1950’s were not encouraged to focus on a career path, except perhaps as a teacher, a nurse, a secretary or an airline stewardess. My dream was to become the perfect wife and mother.
The next chapter of my life was filled with raising children, being the perfect hostess, a den mother and a soccer coach, and occasionally painting. It was not until 1974 that I began to yearn to become an artist. I became a “re-entry” student at Ventura College, and fearfully entered Gerd Koch’s painting class. That was culture shock, to be sure. Koch’s free form teaching methods unleashed a style and talent that I had never experienced. And I was recognized as a promising artist. And it was a major turning point in my life. Gerd’s classes, trips to LA galleries and artists’ studios, along with his commentary, was a learning open my eyes to a world that I had never seen. The Koch students’ trip to Paris and Amsterdam, among other artists tours, was life changing.
For the next ten years I studied with many of the great art instructors at VC, including Hiroko Yoshimoto and the late Mary Michel. And at time I became an active member of the arts community, showing at Buenaventura Art Association, the Ventura City Hall, Art Illusions Gallery, and other artists venues. During that period, I won many awards, including first in the Ventura College Student exhibit, the theme prize at the Ventura County Fair and First Awards at Buenaventura Art Association. Most rewarding was building a large base of collectors of my work.
In 1985 I was honored to be invited to become a member of the prestigious Studio 83, a juried artists cooperative, founded by Hiroko Yoshimoto. This was to be my first experience as an Artist in Residence. The top artists in our region were members. But in the late 1980’s the group lost their lease and it disbanded. I never forgot the importance of being part of such an extraordinary group.
My life was taking another turn in the road. In 1988 I was invited to be the featured artist at the grand opening of Ventura County National Bank. From this association with VCNB, I was asked to interview for a business development position with the bank. What an ironic turn of events. Banks and numbers were the opposite of my interests or talents. How could this possibly work out? But it did and at age 51 I had my first job.
As a Business Development officer, it was my job to attract high net worth clients to the bank. Knowing that many of these potential clients were art lovers, I volunteered to arrange art exhibits at the corporate headquarters and the Camarillo service Center. The first art opening featured Susan Petty, Hiroko Yoshimoto and Mary Michel. At four pm a crowd of over 300 guests flowed in and that became the first of over 36 exhibits that I curated and hosted for the corporate headquarters and the Camarillo Service Center. And, yes, it was a successful boost to my career.
Through the bank, I met J. Handel and Carol Evans, the newly appointed Planning President for Cal State Channel Islands. At this point in time, I had climbed the corporate ladder to become a Sr. Corporate Vice President in the Commercial Banking Division of City National Bank. In 1997 President Evans appointed me to the Founding Board of CSUCI. This was a time of great adventure, as the President, his staff and Board took roots in what had once been the old Camarillo State Hospital.
President Evans, a man of great vision, wanted to encourage the establishment of a Fine Arts department. This was not an easy task for a new state university. But he found a site, the hospital’s art therapy unit building, that might work for an artists’ collective. He took several of us down to see the filthy, deserted space to get our thoughts on how we could organize an artists’ meeting place. When I walked in I knew that this too could become a professional artists enclave, another cooperative like Studio 83. President Evans approached Roxie Ray and Linda Dullam at the same time. Soon we were joined by Gerd Koch, Maggie Kildee, Tom McMillin, Gerri McMillin, and others to establish a regional professional arts venue, featuring galleries and artists’ studio spaces, based in part on the model of Studio 83. And that is how STUDIO Channel Islands was created.
In the fall of 1998 the first artists in residence moved in and a major artists venue was established in Ventura County. It took some doing to rehabilitate the old building, but with willing hands and the kindness of friends and strangers, three galleries, artists works spaces and a beautiful courtyard and gardens were created. I served as the first President of Studio Channel Islands and later as the Director of Development. In 2005 we created the SCIART Award for Excellence for outstanding college and university students. Since that time we have recognized talented art students from each of the colleges and universities in Ventura County, many of whom have gone on to promising art careers. One of those recipients, Andy Lepe, is now an Artist in Residence at the new SCIART.
My artistic journey has indeed taken many twists and turns. In 2007 I took a journey across the sea and below the Equator to New Zealand and Australia. On the cruise from the Milford Sound and out across the Tasman Sea we encountered a fierce storm. For two days we endured winds up to 100 mph and at times it seemed like we would never see the shore again. When the winds subsided, and the skies cleared, we experienced the most amazing sunset. That warm glowing sun seemed to be a beacon of light from God. This experience inspired my work from that point on, whether it be the sea, abstracts, the nebulae or landscapes.
In 2014 I was honored as one of the Ten Icons of Ventura County Artists at the Museum of Ventura County. In 2015 I was one of seven Southern California artists to be chosen to create paintings for the New West Symphony’s presentation of Holst’s Planets Symphony. My subject was Jupiter, which became the first paintings in the Nebulae series. The paintings were featured on screen as the symphony played in Santa Monica, Thousand Oaks and Oxnard. In an ironic twist of fate, the venue in Santa Monica was Barnum Hall, at Santa Monica High School, exactly sixty years after my graduation in 1955.
I am currently an active artist member of Studio Channel Islands, The LA Art Association, Women Painters West, the California Art Guild, The Ojai Art Association, and Buenaventura Art Association.
My art career spans over 45 years. I have seen life from both sides, as a young eager student, re-entry artist at age 37 and full time Artist in Residence and cultural arts benefactor. It is a joyous thing to create my art and to be recognized by awards and collectors. It has also been a pleasure, and a very integral part of my experience, to create opportunities for artists to flourish, to inspire children and to encourage young emerging artists to honor their creativity and to seek careers that will allow them to use their God given talents.
Pat Richards Dodds
Patrichardsdodds@icloud.com
Patrichardsart.com
Studio D3 Studio Channel Islands
2222 Ventura Blvd.
Camarillo, CA 93010