Artist Patricia Fabian is joining the Gallery on the Square in Gainesville.
Patricia Fabian began painting to satisfy a requirement in graduate school at the University of Tulsa. Little did she know that it would lead her to a career as an artist.
“I thought of myself as a writer – poetry and short stories – as I studied humanities in college,” she said. “But because of my major, I had to take painting, and frankly when my professor complimented me and suggested I take more painting lessons, I thought he was joking.”
Not so. Specializing in contemporary landscapes and figures in oil and acrylic, she is the most recent addition to the roster at Gallery on the Square in downtown Gainesville.
The cooperative art gallery features 12 artists who work in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, mixed media, sculpture, jewelry and pottery.
Throughout her career, Fabian has spent time in New Mexico, the Washington, DC area, and North Atlanta where she and her husband John raised their two now-adult daughters. They’ve also lived in Texas and New Jersey.
Her work career included fundraising and communications for the American Heart Association in Tulsa and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Washington, DC. She was also director of development at the Atlanta History Center.
“At one point, before I married, I took a year off to focus on my painting and went to New Mexico to study the desert,” Fabian said. “As I traveled my subject matter seemed to take on the flavor of the area. And I began to understand color for the first time”
She expanded her paintings of figures, including numerous images of tennis players, including casual settings and portraits. One of her works hangs in the national offices of the United States Tennis Association in Atlanta.
Her award-winning works have been displayed in numerous galleries and private collections across the country. She received a grant to paint at Chateau Orquevaux, France, with its residency program; the resulting works were exhibited at Beauregard Fine Art, Rumson, NJ, and Reinike Gallery in Miami Circle in Atlanta. In addition to Gallery on the Square, her works are shown in Georgia, including Quinlan Visual Arts Center and at Brenau University for the Presidents Summer Series in Gainesville. Her coastal art including shrimp boats is displayed at The Studio Gallery, Darien.
In addition to Fabian, other artists at Gallery on the Square are Joyce Hornor, pure silver jewelry; Ann Goble, oil, watercolor, wildlife, water birds, horses and figures; Connie Reilly, oil, pastel, watercolor, portraits, figures, pets, wildlife, floral, landscape; Anne Brodie Hill, oil, watercolor, boats, birds, landscapes, water scenes, Lake Lanier; Paula Hoffman, oil, water scenes, landscapes, cityscapes, still life, wildlife, pets; Ann Alexander, oil, still life, floral, water scenes, landscapes; Lydia Ferguson, oil, acrylic, still life, floral, animals, landscapes; Shirley Seguin, oil, still life, floral, landscape, cityscapes; Pam Kohler Camp, pottery; Jane Hemmer, sculpture, bronze; and Shannon Hughs, abstract multi media.
The gallery is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located in Main Street Market, 118 Main Street SW, Gainesville.
For more information, visit wwwgallerysq.com or call 770 718-7632.
Photo: by Anne Brodie Hill
