Pat Hurley

Pat Hurley

Born in Carrizozo, NM

Lives & works on the Flathead Reservation, Montana

 

My earliest memories are of being outdoors, and I always feel most complete with the sky as my ceiling.  The desert wind, the scrabbling beetle, the tracery of trees’ shadows, the creek’s silvery mayhem, the mountain’s rocky peaks:  these are all things that inspire me.  As we grow more attached to our screens and gizmos, it seems that this society is suffering from what Richard Louv calls “Nature Deficit Disorder”.   When we drift away from the forests and prairies outside our door and into some electronic reality, we are in danger of destroying through neglect the places that nurture us. I see my art not as an indoor, cozy simulacrum of the natural world, but as an invitation to go out and find the places and small miracles that make life worthwhile.

 

Many media have attracted me: watercolor, pen and ink, pencil, sculpture with various materials, and fiber arts such as weaving, knitting and embroidery.  I become happily lost in the process of making art. Watching colors blend on paper is magic.  Winding the bobbins becomes a meditation.  The back and forth march of weaving soothes.  And working on the loom my father built for me so many years ago warms me. 

 

Textiles have become my preferred media.  Tapestry weaving, in particular has opened the door to more interpretive, abstract expression while encouraging a sense of rhythm in the work.  The technical processes of warping, creating shapes, and finishing the tapestry fascinate me, and oddly enough, free me to experiment with imagery. I love choosing a palette of yarns and other materials for color, texture and shimmer. 

 

I try to capture some elusive glimmer of Nature’s reality and reinterpret it with paint or fiber, although no human effort can or should replace the real thing.  Nature lays out a delicious banquet of color, with images ranging from drab to gaudy.  My eyes are drawn to the bright, contrasting colors that then become emphasized in my work.  Texture adds another layer of imagery as I move through a place.  Those textures find their way into my work through brushstrokes in watercolor or choice of yarns and stitches in textiles.  More difficult to capture are the sounds and sensations of a place.  I use rhythmic patterns to represent the flow of wind, water, or time.  Metallic media and high contrast help to translate sparkling light, bird song, or simply the joy of being.

 

 

Currently, I am developing a series representing places on the Flathead Reservation that are special to me.  Five tapestries and one small tapestry are complete, paying homage to Valley Creek, Ninepipe, Camas Prairie, Racehorse Gulch, Mollman and South Crow Creek.  A tapestry inspired by the photograph in the Mission Mountains (above) is on my loom now, and more places are clamoring in my mind for their place on the loom.