Making work is a joyous thing - it always feels like a gift to me.
Patricia Swannell worked predominantly with print, as well as creating fluid large scale abstract watercolours. Her works are inspired by the beauty of nature and the dark threats to the natural world. Patricia collected willow branches and leaves, ferns and grasses. These natural materials are used on the printing press so that the paper becomes embossed with their shapes and textures. From large trees, to tiny seeds and fragile grasses, Patricia transformed flotsam and jetsom into works of beauty and resonance.
Her focus on environmental matters was also reflected in her work for The Royal Botanic Garden Kew at Wakehurst Place. She designed a brick and turf maze and a series of small bronzes, which highlight the conservation work of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank for visitors to the garden.
Patricia Swannell’s work started from the idea of time, with the ever-moving present providing the only vantage point to the past and future. Through paintings, drawings and prints, paying attention to the particular expression that each medium allows, she looked closely at the commonplace. The works focus on moments of exquisite balance and beauty in nature that are receding from experience to memory, perhaps forever.
Canadian born, Patricia lived and worked in London. She completed an MA in Fine Art at City and Guilds with Distinction. She has been part of jaggedart from 2007 until 2023, when she passed away.
jaggedart continues to donate to and support the Patricia Swannell Appeal through Breast Cancer Now. Patricia devoted the last eighteen months of her life to driving change for people affected by secondary breast cancer. More information on her invaluable legacy can be found here.