This was one of those times during our travels when my wife and I were immediately struck by a scene. Walking the streets of London, United Kingdom at night, we came upon The Red Lion Tavern on Parliament Street. There was such a beauty to the varying colors across the facade of the building, lit by both the street lights and moonlight. Even the interior lights shone a wide variety of color temperatures, lending an organic look to the rigid architecture. A tavern has existed on this site since at least 1434, and the pub that was there during the Victorian era was visited by Charles Dickens as a young boy. The current building, erected in 1890, was visited by a number of Prime Ministers, including Winston Churchill. -Patrick Saunders
Patrick Saunders is an award-winning artist who travels the globe, creating fine art, teaching painting workshops, and judging painting competitions. Patrick paints a variety of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, cityscapes, and florals.
After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute, Patrick spent a decade as an artist at Hallmark Cards before returning to KCAI to accept a faculty position teaching illustration, painting, animation, and web design. His students voted to honor Patrick with an Educator of the Year award. Teaching led to a job offer in advertising, where, as a Group Creative Director, Patrick led teams of marketing professionals in New York, San Francisco, and globally, producing advertising for clients such as Colgate-Palmolive, Whole Foods, Hill’s Pet Food, FedEx, Revlon, Southwest Airlines, Tom’s of Maine, Nextel, Skyy, Kashi, and Kellogg’s.
Throughout his career, Patrick has been recognized for outstanding work, earning awards from the American Advertising Federation, the International Academy of the Visual Arts, the Web Marketing Association, the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, and Oil Painters of America. He was first featured by Southwest Art Magazine in 2000, as one of their 21 Artists to Watch Under 31. Patrick has twice been the cover artist for and featured in Southwest Art Magazine, in September 2018 and in December 2020. He received a gold medal from the Oil Painters of America in 2020.
In 2013, Patrick began plein air painting, and has won awards from numerous nationally recognized events, including Plein Air Easton, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, Maui Plein Air, Lighthouse Plein Air, Sedona Plein Air, the Airstream Fine Art Invitational, Plein Air Texas, Plein Air Richmond, and Telluride Plein Air. He was featured in Plein Air Magazine in 2018.
Patrick is a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America, and a Signature Member of the Portrait Society of America. He is a former Signature Member of the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, the American Impressionist Society, and the Outdoor Painters Society.
Patrick is represented by Galerie Kornye West, Olmsted Gallery, Eva Reynolds Fine Arts, Inc. and the Trippe Gallery.
Pet portraiture is a passion shared with his wife Kimberly. Please view her work at www.SaundersFineArts.com