"My integrity is my signature"

I paint from emotion, experience and memory. Color, layers and movement are integral aspects of my abstracts. When I come into the studio every morning, I feel a certain way, and expressing these feelings is how I begin my art. My process is spontaneous from that point on, the act of creation becomes a quest to achieve visions of freedom and balance, and to add a little gentleness to the world.

The colors I incorporate into every work are inspired by memories, both recent and from the past. Perhaps I recall the brilliance of a flower or the intensity of someone's eyes and strive to recreate those colors and blend them into my work.

Whatever they are, I mix them from scratch, combining pigments with one another until they perfectly match my recollections, and then work them into the details of the painting's composition. In a sense, I create my own "sign language," as my art ultimately represents how I communicate with others.

As long as I can remember I was a painter. My mother says I was painting before reading. It goes back to those earliest sources, fortunate to be surrounded by great paintings, sculptures, amazing pieces of antique furniture in my parents house. I was poring through my mother's Art books: Monet, Degas… until I opened my first Van Gogh art book. Turning the pages I was delightfully bewitched, a door just opened into my life. At that very instant I had a revelation, I was so convinced I will be a painter.

An intuitive one. I felt I was already one just because of Vincent... I knew I was into something... As soon as I had a minute I was sitting at my little white desk painting, drawing, painting day after day. Inspired, daring to try any idea I had envisioned. I had no limits, no inhibitions, a young kid, and eager to start my career...

When I was seven-years old my art teacher recommended I attend art classes in a studio setting after school. Almost everyday for years I was savoring all the knowledge that I could discover. We were taught all kinds of artwork, how to use mediums: chalk, ink, oil, worked on clay, wood, silk, metal, graving, pyro graphing... Extraordinary experiences.

I was raised in Monte-Carlo, those chances to learn Art were given to us by the amazing Princess Grace who successfully started to turn Monte-Carlo into an Art place in the world. She created the best schools, college, studios for all kinds of artistic creation: painting, sculpting, dancing, music... Her talent, enthusiasm and spirit inspired all of us. This is where I did all my studies.

My life experiences became my tools. As the years went by I traveled around the world, lived in different countries. I worked in various studios with fellow artists. Over those last decades and countless paintings, I developed the way to express my own vision. I was not only painting. I was sculpting clay, creating a line of furniture and fine jewelry.

In 1988, I became an “Abstract” painter. Leaving behind me all kind of figurative forms gave me a degree of freedom of action. I was getting closer to reach another dimension.

Patou’s paintings have been exhibited in several prestigious locations throughout the world, including Art Basel (Miami), the New York Art Expo, and the Miami Art Show. Previously, she operated “Patou Fine Art” galleries in Miami and Fort Lauderdale at DCOTA (Design Center of the Americas), and in Casa de Campo.

Exhibitions:

Galerie du Metropole, Monte Carlo, 1996
Chateau de Cap d’Ail, France, 1997
Galerie du Park Palace, Monte Carlo, 1998
Galerie St Honore, Paris, France, 1999
Temple Gallery, Philadelphia, PA 2000
Kidder Smith Gallery, Boston, MA 2001
Trajan Gallery, Carmel by the Sea, CA 2002
Joyce Robins Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2003
Charles Campbell Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2004
Patou Fine Art, DCOTA 2004
St. Thomas University, Miami, Fl 2005
Patou Fine Art, Coral Gables, Fl 2005
Joyce Robins Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2005
Fredrick Clement Gallery, New York, NY 2006
Art Expo, New York, NY 2006
ArtMiami, Miami, Fl 2007
Art Basel, Miami, Fl 2008
Art Expo, New York, NY 2009
Art Basel, Miami, Fl 2009