stretch during which Pat never once emerged from the

stretch during which Pat never once emerged from the hollow. A is Pat just shook his head as if it wen. ^mething he would take care not to repeat.

Working with water colors, egg tempra and oils, Wilson paints the rural beauty of Rappahannock. “I paint what’s going on around me, the things that I have an emotional response to. There must be an emotional response.”

Wilson reserves the right to edit nature as he sees fit. He is not a photorealist. In fact “there is an abstract quality in good realistic art,” he said. So Wilson feels free to rearrange a scene or to remove something if it does not fit into his plan. An example of the abstract quality of his ruralistic art hangs now in the Middle Street Gallery. The painting is of rocks, and people have appreciated it even though it hung upside down for some time.

Wilson told how the use of different mediums affects his art. “Water colors are direct, they reveal more of my emotional response, because the process is more spontaneous. I apply the paint and either go with it (as is) or I don’t.” Patton sometimes finishes a water color in as little time as three to four hours, or it can take up to three days. But that is still a quick painting compared to others, which may take over a month. His oil and egg tempra paintings are “more studied and controlled.” He starts them off like water colors but continues to rework them for a much longer time.

Painting is a constant learning process for Wilson. He likes to experiment rather than play it safe by sticking with what has been successful for him. “A little success is the quickest way to mediocrity,” he said. “You come to rely too much on the one style that succeeded.”

Is Patton Wilson ever completely happy with a painting he does?

“If I ever do something that meets my expectations, then I will quit because there’s nothing left to achieve.”

That may not sit well with his business manager—oh, guess who— Jane.