Patricia Ritter

Painting

I am drawn to the details of old homes and structures; the lay of the land in each season and still lifes provide me with the opportunity to gather items of my choosing to arrange and play with composition and content. While my images are realistic, I attempt to convey my own personal sense of the scene or object with heightened color and strong use of light and dark. I work in watercolor and often pastels. Why do I paint? For those times when everything comes together and paper and paint are transformed into more than materials and my ideas - they become a work of art.

Photography

The camera has held a special fascination for me since I found my first 35mm in a pawn shop in Philadelphia. It was a rapid fire Cannon...an old newspaper photographer's camera and for years I developed my own black and white film and prints. Now I have moved into the modern age with a digital camera and finding new ways to present what I see through the lens. The computer has become my darkroom where I can take my photography to new levels by utilizing a range of techniques until I reach just the look and feel I am searching for.