Artist's Statement: Pat Fairhead M.A., M.Ed., R.C.A., C.S.P.W.C., O.S.A
I was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, my nationality is Canadian. I was raised by the family plus staying with my grandmother who was like a ship in full sail. Erect, long black silk dress, lace at her throat and two strands of pearls. Her hair up in pins. I came to Canada when I was 10. My mother married a Canadian. We came by ship – it was very rough; I loved it. Standing up near the bow with my new father, his arm around me, the bow rose up and crashed down again.
What is my birth date? I took my date of birth off my CV years ago because the assumptions about women and age are rampant. I am not a little old lady who paints. I am healthy, I love my life as an artist; I have always painted since I was a child and now have painted full time for 35 years. I’ve been very successful with about 70 shows in Canada and the U.S.A., over 200 corporate collections, National and Provincial collections and a watercolour in the Royal Collection of Prints & Drawings, in Windsor Castle, England.
I swim three times a week, hike, ski, have my own canoe and kayak – I’ve been nine times to the high Arctic, paddled the west coast of British Columbia, camped in the Amazon rainforest, hiked the back country of Australia. I’ve done Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Egypt, Europe, New Zealand and on and on. In May 2011 a trip to the Scottish Isles by ship, preparatory to an exhibition of Scottish watercolours, then on to London
I fell in love with the Canadian landscape. The Canadian life, camping, canoe tripping, hiking, photographing, sketching and drawing to take back to the studio. The Arctic, vast bare, loaded, powerful, soaring black rock face, glaciers hundreds of feet high bursting into the sea. Desolation, isolation, a million miles of vacancy. Always I have been fascinated by water, dip the paddle into the lake or the sea, icebergs, waterfalls. I glory in them. The exquisite sensation of being in a place where I can say to myself, I may be the only person who has ever stopped here. I want to paint the thrill of falling water.
The hardest part of my artist journey is how to manage my life as a painter and the people I love. Artistic journey is hard, period. There have been many gratifying experiences in my journey as well.
I would like people to look at my work and feel “something”. Is there anything else? I am known as an innovator, a colourist. I’ve always pushed the edge with delight, to see what I could do. My latest work in watercolour is the best so far. I love transparent vibrant colour, beautiful papers and big size. The thrill and challenge of a five-foot piece of paper is my idea of cloud nine.