Patrou

I have been interested in creating faces since I can remember first drawing when I was a teenager. Over the years I began making distilled versions of them and also started adding decorative elements into them. Some concepts have intentional meaning to me, some have very little and might be just design and form. I don't like to do the same thing over and over and I don't follow a familiar path and process each time. I love careful design and also spontaneous work so I sometimes split the difference and pull from each approach. I also like to mix things up within that approach by adding new twists and turns that become pleasant discoveries. I think it is good to grow as you go and look for new doorways and levels in order to keep myself challenged. If a piece or idea isn't very satisfying me to work on I won't even bother to take it any further. That is one of the freedoms I have set up for myself by not working either for hire or under pressure of making a sale or making quantities. I take my time, or should I say the art takes time.

The influences on my work over the years has been from all of my visual jobs, from photography and lighting, cinematography for television and motion pictures, black & white photo lab work, product design, neon design and fabrication, movie set and prop design & production, animation for music videos, events design and advertising.

The satisfaction for me comes not only after completion of a piece but it rides along during the entire process like a surfer on a wave when I can get into the "zone".

Lou has been drawing and painting faces since the 1960's and has been steadily creating a body of work with a portfolio that spans over four decades. Born in Rochester, New York in the mid 1950's, Lou Patrou, a self-taught artist, has been steadily drawing and painting faces and figures for over 40 years.