Patty Corcoran
Although Patty has painted throughout her life, she spent much of her adult career working with students, as a counselor and a dean at the University of Vermont. Even then, she carried a deep sense that her true self was that of an artist. Watching her mother’s work as a painter evolve helped shape that understanding and strengthened her belief that art would one day become her primary focus.
“My paintings are joyful and energetic, and viewers often connect with them for the feeling they evoke. When I begin a new canvas, I start with the colors before me, building layers and using water spray to create light, movement, and texture. Through this process, form, shape, and mood begin to emerge. I approach each painting with openness, allowing its direction to reveal itself over time. When a scene begins to appear, I may follow it through to completion. Just as often, I set that first image aside and continue painting and spraying until another one is uncovered. I know a painting is complete when I feel a clear signal that it has become a reflection of an emotional landscape. The first marks of a painting, like the first words in a human exchange, are often less compelling than what emerges later: the deeper image, the second or third painting, the more intimate and truthful conversation we hope to have with one another”.
“The qualities that shape my connections with others in therapeutic relationships guide the development of my paintings. In both, I seek a deeper connection and allow imagination, intuition, and presence to lead the way. I am drawn to the parts of us that ask to surface: the truths that need a voice, the qualities that deserve to be honored, and the depths that long to be seen”.
Today, Patty devotes her days to painting, drawing inspiration from the quiet beauty of the natural world around her. She lives in Hinesburg, Vermont, with her husband, Andres Roomet. Over the past ten years, she has also been nourished by the gentle landscape of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, where she returns each year for a reunion with old friends on Chequessett Neck Road.
Patty Corcoran, Into the Mystic, framed oil on canvas, 20×24”
