Patricia Savage – wildlife and botanical artist and illustrator

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Patricia Savage grew up in North Carolina and currently resides in Raleigh. She has been a professional artist since 1987. She enjoys the freedom as an artist to explore a number of media. She works primarily with chalk pastels and dry-brush watercolor techniques, pursuing the richness of feelings and textures that these media allow for the expression of her visual ideas.

She has traveled throughout North America and Europe to explore different lands and habitats as a close observer of nature, reflected in the subjects of her paintings.

Several of Patricia’s botanical paintings are featured in Today’s Botanical Artists, featuring top American artists. The Pastel Journals’ 6th Annual Pastel 100 Competition awarded Patricia with Best in Wildlife and Honorable Mention in Wildlife. Denali National Park invited her to spend 10 days living in the park as Artist-in-Residence during 2004. A painting from this experience hangs on permanent display in the Park’s new Murie Center.

In 2001, Patricia participated as a scholar (expedition artist) in the Smith College project The 1899 Harriman Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change. A television special about this scientific and cultural exploration of Alaska appeared on PBS in June 2003. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation commissioned a painting of the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and used a limited edition print as a fund-raiser for conservation efforts. Patricia Savage’s work has also appeared in The Best in Wildlife Art 2 and The Best in Wildlife Art (North Light Books); in a limited-edition art book North American Endangered and Protected Species; and in publications such as US Art, Focus magazine (Milan, Italy), Wildlife Art, and Wildlife in North Carolina.

Her paintings have been shown at a number of museums and annual shows around the world, including the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, the Hiram Blauvelt Museum, the Wildlife Experience, the Bell Museum of Natural History, the National Geographic Society, the U. S. Botanic Gardens, and Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. She is a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists, who have awarded her an Award of Excellence and shown her work in many juried annual shows and national tours. Patricia Savage is also a Signature member of the Pastel Society of America.

Patricia teaches at the University of North Carolina Botanical Garden’s Botanical Illustration Certificate Program and is a member of the garden’s Advisory Council. Across the country, she teaches workshops and classes in Dry-brush Watercolor, Pastel, Composition, and Color Theory. She has also given lectures about her adventures as well as her avocation to various groups and museums.

Techniques: Pastel, Dry-brush Watercolor, Oil, Scratchboard, and Pencil.

JURIED EXHIBITIONS, RESIDENCIES, and AWARDS

Campbell House, One-Person Show, Southern Pines, NC, 2013
UNC Botanical Garden, Instructor’s Show, Chapel Hill, NC, 2011, 2007
Pastel Society of North Carolina, Member’s Show, Campbell House, Southern Pines, NC, 2011
Pastel Society of North Carolina, Member’s Show, Ambleside Gallery, Greensboro, NC, 2011, 2010, 2009
Miniature Show, Germanton Gallery, Germanton, NC, 2011 – 2009, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
Friends of Lake Johnson, Art in the Park, Raleigh, NC 2009
Guild of Natural Science Illustrator’s, Member’s Show, Fort Kent, Maine 2009
N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, One-Person Show, Raleigh, NC, 2009, 2005, 2003, 2000
Pastel Society of North Carolina, Member’s Show, High Point, NC 2007
UNC Botanical Garden, One-person Show, Chapel Hill, NC, 2005
The Pastel Journal’s 6th Annual Pastel 100 Competition, 2004 Best in Wildlife, 2004 Honorable Mention
Denali National Park and Preserve Artist in Residence Program, Summer 2004
Miami Metro Zoo, Invitational, Miami, FL, 2004
Society of Animal Artists Annual Shows: 2004-2000, 1998-1997, 1995 -1994
Award of Excellence: 2000, National Museum tour: 2004, 2001, 2000, 1995
Raleigh Municipal Building, One-Person Show, Raleigh, NC, 2004, 1996
Things with Wings, Germanton Gallery, Germanton, NC, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002
Airlie Gardens Outdoor Arts Festival, Wrightsville Beach, NC, 2004, 2003
Florida Wildlife Art Expositions, Florida, 2004, 2003
Atlanta Home and Garden Show, Atlanta, GA, 2003, Third Place
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Birds in Art, Minneapolis, MN, 2003
American Society of Botanical Artists, Portland Home and Garden Show, February 2003
American Society of Botanical Artists, United States Botanic Garden, Washington, D.C., October 2002
National Geographic’s Explorers Hall, Washington, D.C., Summer 2002
American Society of Botanical Artists, Johnson and Johnson headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ, April 2002
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Invitational Black and White show, Oradell, NJ, 2000

PUBLICATIONS

Today’s Botanical Artists, Schiffer Publishing, 2007
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Newsletter: An 1899 Expedition Retraced. November 2003
Fine Art, Science—Diverse?, Volume 2003, Number 7, September 2003
American Society of Botanical Artists Newsletter: The Botanical Artist
A Most Amazing Expedition to Alaska – An Artist Working in the Field, Summer Issue 2003
The Best of Wildlife Art, 1997, Rachel Rubin Wolff
Best of Wildlife 2, 1999, Rachel Rubin Wolff
North American Endangered & Protected Species, 1995

MEDIA COVERAGE

Focus, Ritratti Selvaggi, Milan, Italy, January 2005
The Raleigh News and Observer, What’s Up, July, August 2004
Independent Weekly, June 23-29, 2004
PBS TV broadcast, June 2003, The 1899 Harriman Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change, Alumnae Association and Clark Science Center of Smith College & Florentine Films
u.s.art, November, 2001, page 23
The Raleigh News and Observer
North to Alaska: A Triangle Artist will help retrace an 1899 scientific expedition, July 20, 2001
Best of Wildlife 2, 1999, The Best of Wildlife Art, 1997, North Light Books, Rachel Rubin Wolff

LECTURES

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Conference, 2007 and 2006: From Siennas to Quinacridones, A Brief History of Pigments and How to Read the Information on a Paint Tube
Durham Technical Community College, 2004: Artist in Alaska
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Conference, 2004: Making a Pastel Surface
New Hope Audubon Society, 2003: Artist in Alaska
North Carolina Museum of Natural Science Junior Curators, 2002: How Artists Work
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Conference, 2002: Paintings and Illustrations from Alaska
Wake County Audubon Society, 2002: Artist in Alaska
Western Carolina University, 2002: How I Decided to be an Artist and How Artists Work
Thomas Jefferson Scholar’s, North Carolina State University, 2001: Artist in Alaska
The 1899 Harriman Expedition Retraced: A Century of Change, 2001: How Artists Work
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators of the Carolinas, 2001: My Trip to Alaska

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

UNC Botanical Garden’s Certificate Program: 2011 – 2001 Color Theory; 2011 – 2002 Composition; 2004 Advanced Watercolor, and various other classes
Morton Arboretum: 2010 Painting the Landscape in Pastel
Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Annual Conference: 2010 Chair and Housing/Registration Coordinator Annual Conference, Painting in Pastel; 2009 Capturing a Tree’s Characteristics and Plein Air Pastel; 2006 How to Mix and Match Colors and Basic Color Theory; 2004 Painting Flowers with Pastels
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences: 2003, 2002 Field-sketching
UNC Botanical Garden: 2010 Mixing and Matching Colors, Paint a Petal, How to Paint a Flat Wash, How to Paint a Cast Shadow; 2008 Painting Flowers in Pastel
The North Carolina Museum of Art: 2003 Color Theory
The 1899 Harriman Expedition Retraced: 2001 Field-sketching Workshops

COLLECTORS

Denali National Park, Alaska
Clark Science Center, Smith College, Director
Fort Bragg
GlaxoSmithKline
North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, Director
Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Conservation Fund
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Wildlife in North Carolina magazine, past Art Director

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, 2010 GNSI Annual Conference Chair
North Carolina Botanical Garden, Botanical Illustration Certificate Advisory Council
Pastel Society of America, Signature Member
Pastel Society of North Carolina, 2012 President, 2012 Statewide Exhibit Chair, Exhibits Co-Chair
Society of Animal Artists, Signature Member
Cary Fine Arts League