James Patrick Lynch
Submitted by Susanne Reese
Elko area exhibiting artist James Patrick Lynch is a Las Vegas resident, but he exemplifies how the Nevada Arts Council’s Basin to Range Exchange features artists who have deep roots in rural America. The challenge to unite urban and rural Nevada artists in a Basin To Range partnership was formed in 2019 at a Nevada Arts Council workshop in Tonopah, followed by another in 2023 in Ely. Participating artists benefit from access to an active marketing and outreach avenue, so they can expand their exhibit opportunities and their artwork can be viewed and appreciated across all of Nevada. Elko’s “Nevada Wild Fine Art Exhibit,” now an annual event, is a home spun product of that collaboration.
The first of four Nevada Wild exhibits began the tradition in 2018. James Patrick Lynch was the first urban artist to support the project and volunteer to exhibit with rural artists at the California Trail Center Museum. Patrick’s original artwork has been featured in all four exhibits held at the Trail Center. This article is intended to introduce Patrick to the Elko community and thank him for his patronage.
I believe that in order to understand a person’s motivation and artwork, it helps to know their character, world view, and intellect. A great deal can be gleaned from knowing the history of the time and world events during their life. Patrick Lynch is an active contemporary artist, with a long and very interesting history to share. This biographic sketch is a look into that history and the events that shaped Patrick’s outlook and perceptions. He has created many landscapes that reflect his view of the beauty, respect for nature and the land. However, it is his portraits that draw my attention and the character he is able to paint into each subject that I most admire. I see humor, wisdom and personality in each of his paintings. Patrick seeks to capture the essence of each person and the thoughts and feelings present in that moment in time.
Patrick was born in 1926, in Humphries, Missouri, a vary rural area of the aptly named,“Show Me State.” His early years did not present any opportunity for artistic accomplishment or practice. In fact, Humphrey’s was nothing more than a wide spot in the road with a gas station, general store and post office. If Patrick was introduced to art, it would have been a calendar in the gas station or wanted posters in the post office. Children in his rural setting did not play with crayons or color books. Life was a challenge and keeping food on the table a full time occupation. It wasn’t until 1929, after the family had moved to Brunswick, that James Patrick remembers his first encounter and interest in art. He would seek out comic strips (in the local newspaper) and copy his favorites, Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers.
Patrick attended three years of art classes at the Kansas City Art Institute, and credits the school and one important teacher, Elizabeth Hammond, for his success in the arts. The tradition of sketching in notebooks became ingrained in Patrick’s life. He has an extensive collection of original notebooks full of sketches depicting people and places where he resided growing up. One of his notebooks depicts his service as an aviation mechanic, air crew and enlisted man in the United States Navy during World War II. It includes the officers and men that befriended him on Midway Island and many of his companions from across America during his time in the military service.
After the war, Patrick attended Ringling Art School in Sarasota Florida, a benefit of the GI Bill for American veterans. He created artwork and participated in exhibits while attending the University of California. Patrick credits his art experiences and studies at the Otis Art Institute as a defining period in his art career and has continued to enrich his techniques while attending numerous workshops. “I have had the good fortune to travel over a good deal of the world, painting as I went. England, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Portugal, Madeira, Hawaii, Mexico, and Peru have all seen me painting away,” says Patrick.
Patrick is comfortable working in most media, but he prefers now “to do mostly water media, watercolors, gouache and acrylics.” He has an extensive background in oils. He has taught art classes and conducted workshops for many years earning a reputation as a mentor to many accomplished artists. Patrick accepts commissioned portraits and can be contacted at artpatcat@gmail.com or you can send him a text at 702-813-9052. Thank you Patrick for your continued support of the Nevada Wild Fine Art Exhibits and the Basin To Range Projects in Elko County.