An artist reception for Carolyn Patten takes place at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 19, in the RVUUF Gallery

In Patten’s words: “Most of my lifetime has been spent working with words, until I took a painting class as a lark a few years ago. It was a revelation — a direct conduit to the surprising depth of expression that goes beyond words and touches the heart of intuition. As Henri Matisse wrote: ‘If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.’ It’s not an exaggeration to write that art has saved my life, and enlarges it every day.

“I work with watercolor, oils, ink and acrylics, always striving for the best combination of saturated color and detail. The images come from dreams, a walk in town, a conversation. Often I take up brushes with a very specific vision and find that it changes as the painting takes form. The final version is not so much a creation of my own as it is a gift from the universe. The art simply moves through me.

“It’s a daily discipline, with immeasurable rewards — the simple pleasures of color and line, the hard work of learning new techniques and materials, and the joy of sharing the results with the world.”

For more information, visit www.carolynpattenart.com or email carolyn@carolynpattenart.com.