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singing a song about art so cool, might be yellow or it might be blue, some that bark and some that mood. Talking about that artist on Florence avenue, he might be welding or he might use glue stuff together so it looks brand new. It could be

00:00:43.780 - 00:00:58.710

something special after he gets through. Talking about that artist on Florence avenue Elvis and the jukebox and a batman to a black and white cow, you can almost hear it move when you're driving down the street, you're gonna notice quite a few. Talking about that artist

00:00:58.710 - 00:01:13.470

on Florence avenue, they put one in the yard, added just a few. The neighbors took a look and they kind of like the view. Soon the street became a gallery with people driving through. Talking about that artist on Florence avenue, talking about that artist on Florence

00:01:13.470 - 00:01:53.350

avenue, talking about that artist on Florence avenue. My career has always been mostly um ceramics, but when I moved here it was very difficult to find many galleries to show my work. So there was a bit of depression through the first two years

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where I really didn't know what I was doing here. I was wondering why am I living here if I don't have a, you know an outlet or business or a gallery and the folk art was just sheer desperation. I just wanted to do something big and

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bold. I was, I was when I first did my first, the first fisherman, which is right outside here, you know, take a picture of it. Eventually I was waiting for the city ordinance the next day and told me to take it down. It was some way

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of just that's what we're trying to express some radical feeling inside of me, but I really wasn't expecting the response. I was totally the opposite. The street has always been friendly and close and it wasn't like we just got to know each other because of the

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sculptures, but the sculptures and Patrick's and Brigitte's remarkable fire and enthusiasm really got people Ah animated. I would say a firefighter neighbor had a terrible fall off a roof and broke both of his legs and I got the idea to have a Raffle and Patrick immediately

00:03:02.750 - 00:03:20.750

signed on to Raffle off one of his sculptures. Well, it was just like wildfire and I mean people could not buy our tickets fast enough. We raised $15,000 through a pasta dinner that we threw half of it came from the dinner. I think people just, especially

00:03:20.750 - 00:03:34.630

on Florence street where there's the majority of the pieces of his work, people, people really like driving up and down there. One of the things that we all joke about and love so much is that it's slow down the traffic and made people smile um, slowed

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it down in the sense that sometimes it's hard to get up and down the street by people who are cruising by slowly to see the work to know one another. We often identify ourselves by which sculpture you've got in your yard. Well, it's definitely put us

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on the map. I can't write a check anywhere in town where someone doesn't say, oh, you live on the cool street. Do you have a statue? So I'm thrilled to say that now we do. Um, I think it's brought the whole neighborhood together. I've met neighbors

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that I didn't even know. It's kind of bound us all together in a way. Um, we have something in common now we eat dinner a lot out on the sun porch and people will stop and then they'll see us sitting there and be kind of embarrassed

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and they'll wave at us and we'll wave back and it's, it's just a real, um, I don't know, it's just great. It's just kind of brings everybody together and just makes everybody a little friendlier. His artistic endeavor is just mind blowing. I mean, he gathers up

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all this stuff and when he gathers it up as he's gathering it, he's got some sculpture in mind. So I mean he's a joy to have on our street, but we sort of call the gallery on Florence Avenue Patrick's gallery because if you have had the

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opportunity to go up and down that street, you see many examples of his work. Well Florence is a great street anyhow. Um, that, that, and um, one block over, I just know that when I walked through my campaign there, I felt like I was at home

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and um, you know, just just uh, just a very west county type of post sixties group of folks. It's only with the junk card that I realized the importance of art because I remember for a few months I've been to art school, these art teachers giving

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me the spiel are society and art I could never get for me it was just survival in a way of expressing myself. But once I put the piece of art on the street, there was this whole chemical change, This whole reaction that happened where all of

00:05:40.510 - 00:05:53.330

a sudden people were talking to each other. And then these people were walking down the street and waving at me and neighbors that I never spoke to me. Well, they came up to me and started talking to me and all this sort of cast there. I

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was the newcomer, the weirdo of the Canadian. But now all of a sudden we're all friends and we just went beyond that and people that I considered so conservative and so uh, almost intimidating to me, turned out to be great fun people to be around. And

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it's all because of how the artwork sort of made a bridge between classes and, and prejudice and all this stuff that was told to me when I was younger about art really made sense. I could really feel the difference of what, how it changes the whole

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atmosphere and removes attention and now we're all seem like we're friends even though all they're doing is they're putting a piece of art in front of the house, but it was just a very beautiful experience to witness all that change. And now I can say that

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I do understand what art is because before I make my sculptures, I sell in the gallery and they give me a check and you know, we're now I'm living it, I ride my bike and neighbors way that came to my street. You know, it's like I

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just feel so much part of it. I feel at home here more than anywhere else in my life. Never, what I really miss, um misunderstood or I didn't predict was that the fact that it's then recycled materials was a very sensitive issue in the community would

00:07:27.990 - 00:07:54.900

have been done out of, or concrete haven't had a totally different response, but because it's made out of recycled material, I found that it really triggered a sort of a sensitive, I think it's wonderful because when you see these sculptures and really, really stop to see

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all of the detail that he puts into it warms my heart because this is not going into landfill. The fact that it's recycled is absolutely incredible. Um, as I'm a major recycler myself and certainly love that, that part of him, a

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friend of mine, that bryan Purcell, we were just talking one time I was just teasing him and I told him by the way this year, God recycled. And he thought that's a good question, I'm sure my God recycled, that's progressive vision of God. And so the

00:09:11.830 - 00:09:25.720

next time he came, he told me that jean who wanted to meet me and when I, when I met jean, he suggested me, Noah's ark, which I thought was just perfect. It was just a beautiful, beautiful subject matter. So we just went ahead and did it

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and I thought it was very courageous from, from jean and everybody else, people continue to stop me and tell me how much fun it is. And I know parents would come by with their Children, you can see them walking around looking at the animals on the

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ark. And so in terms of, you know, our goal of higher visibility, I think it's worked quite well, we're using it, we've used it in a brochure, we're using it in a lot of different ways as a defining piece and trying to use that theme of

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you know, all God's Children are welcome here on the ark. See, I think you have a pair of glasses here too, we got another, what are you okay from your side. Okay, Okay, everybody, okay, I can't see a thing though, particularly. Yeah, thank you 312 and

00:11:17.170 - 00:12:06.630

now we're gonna look here. Okay, take them out again, unless Okay, I got one thank you, keep the moisture out for now. Okay, you're the project with me, is that from the tree? Maybe this is our big boy of the house, This is jimmy right here,

00:12:06.640 - 00:12:24.950

jimmy chanda and chewy. One of the things that we love about this piece is that Patrick just totally picked up the characteristics, the personality of each of the animals. This piece base is made with a water tank, cut it into, I made two sculptures with it

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and that's one of them. And then these are the scraps from another piece that I had. So that's the base of it. Now, there's a jerry can here, this is a pewter water picture, um that's I think it's a stainless steel bowl, there's all kinds of

00:12:42.700 - 00:12:57.970

stuff. A friend of mine came back from Thailand and brought me this, this great teapot. It's right here, this is a, this is a, a coffee drip and these are the rollers for the windows, I thought they looked like dog and this, this is the original

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um that chopper, I have to see my chopper. All these little pieces here, there's a lot of stuff that was given some of the stuff that was given by terry that I cut up in little pieces just to put it together, that's from the medical equipment

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of palm drive. The mouth is made with a speculum, this is a Coleman lantern and that's where your, that's where you pump the gas into, there's a dispenser, that's the flashers on a Volkswagen, there's wheelbarrow like that's the bottom piece of a piece of the wheelbarrow?

00:13:37.330 - 00:13:56.410

These are wheels, I got that they're great because they're full of, they're just very hefty, very beautiful um mailbox on this side. I have one, somebody gave me all the parts of a reclining hide a bed. The important thing on this piece was to get the

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feel of the dog. It's nice because they have different personalities because they're made with different stuff. That's sort of long. There you go. Right, yes, help. Mhm. Events, Everybody can enjoy it next to Highway 12. It's

00:18:29.430 - 00:18:46.040

a beautiful ending. A long road. I'm not sure that's it. I'm sure there'll be some more traveling with it, but for now it should be there for at least a year and I hope people enjoy it. Well, this last christmas um Patrick helped put together a

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calendar for called art for the schools and one of the schools to benefit from the fundraiser is my daughter's school where his daughter also goes and he came to the table and um helped to sell some of the uh calendars and he was very lovely and

00:19:05.560 - 00:19:21.730

really appreciate his standing there and selling calendars for all of us. And it was quite a fundraiser, Three different school districts got together to take over the project. So I've learned more about making a calendar than anyone could ever want to know their lives, got together

00:19:21.730 - 00:19:40.950

our resources contacted. Chambers of commerce is great and a committee everybody and um Came up with local dates to put in the calendar. And so here it is, we printed up 5000 and each page is some local art by Patrick. I don't know how well the

00:19:40.950 - 00:19:58.970

cameras catching these, um, some of them were chosen. Some of them were um, we did get some sponsors to help defray the cost. So some of the sponsors had photos and we said, okay, we're in. But mr, friends in this calendar goes in. So we're august

00:19:58.980 - 00:20:24.220

um basketball hardware. I had just had just had a gopher commissioned. So we have um, basketball hardware's gofer and their sponsors. And then there were a couple other uh, silent sponsors. This um, family had their um lovely red hens. So they're incredibly charitable people and very

00:20:24.230 - 00:20:40.760

socially conscious to the calendar is it's a win win situation because the community is really making some some some some fundraising out of it. Plus I get to see the pictures out there and you know, for me, that's a big plus. So I think everybody's winning

00:20:40.760 - 00:20:57.020

on that one. The folk art really is about finding the right piece of junk. And if you notice the work in the studio, it's, I'm always working on the same things like there's gonna be a mermaid out of folk art. I'll make a mermaid out of

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play and make one out of 10, um, or bronze. It's basically the same character as batman has always been on my list of whimsical characters I like to exploit. So whether I made out of junk, Um, 10 or play, it's it's basically things that are kind

00:21:18.460 - 00:21:32.500

of caught in my childhood memories and I like to do what I know you're coming in from highway 12 and then you see the big pink cow out in the dairy field. That's a really neat one too. That's, that's my favorite. I like that cow, I

00:21:32.510 - 00:21:47.570

go past it so many times. I think one of my favorite pieces of Patrick is the cow out in the pasture on the way in on 12 and the cows love that cow and uh, and have quite a relationship with it. And so um, it got

00:21:47.570 - 00:22:05.160

knocked over. Um, I'm not sure if it was the wind or the cows, it lost its ears, its all back together now looking wonderful and doing its job once again five more minutes and we're opening last year was fabulous. We were able to talk to the

00:22:05.160 - 00:22:18.500

city and get the street blocks so that we sort of had our own block party here. That was the first year. Hopefully it will be an annual thing and it will get bigger and better. A lot of these pieces, almost all of them are illuminated at

00:22:18.500 - 00:22:39.190

night as well. So around Halloween time and christmas time when people are looking at the lights and so forth. It makes a big Halloween is the favorite. My favorite thing about living on Florence avenue probably besides the statues we get hundreds and hundreds of trick or

00:22:39.190 - 00:22:54.700

treaters every year and the whole neighborhood comes together and it seems like in the last 10 years every year more and more people around the neighborhood decorate and it just seems to be getting bigger and better every year. And we were thinking about selling our house

00:22:54.710 - 00:23:29.750

about a year ago and I just said no we have to stay here because of Halloween as far as Halloween, it was my daughter's. It was mostly for them. The same are the ones dancing in the jukebox and having a

00:23:29.760 - 00:23:48.390

great time. I guess I'm putting in memories in their memory bank. That will be I like everything about her. I think she's, it's a whole different style. This is uh headlights from a dodge. I think it's from the 40's but the rest is pretty much manufactured.

00:23:48.390 - 00:24:04.770

Aluminum. I think the, the biggest feature was the lives, that's what started it. So there's more found than there is manufacturing but there's still a lot of manufacturing in this one. But I ask all my neighbors what they thought. My critic critic neighbors and they all

00:24:04.770 - 00:24:22.230

agreed that can't stop the progress of my, my personal evolution. I don't necessarily see myself as a specific type of artist. I'm an artist, period play whatever. I don't look for things I find them just take whatever I stretch my arm out whatever is hanging around.

00:24:22.240 - 00:24:39.090

So when I go at the at the dump or at the recycling plant, I'm not as picky as some people, I just take whatever they offer me and I figure I'll use it sometime where not everybody's got that approach. You know, this was the very first

00:24:39.090 - 00:24:54.450

piece I've ever did. I don't know if the acceptance would have been the same and I really feel it's my gallery out there. It's like having a show versus one piece in a gallery. When you have a whole show, people can understand the whole idea of

00:24:54.450 - 00:26:33.270

all the pieces together when it's just one of one of just one piece. I'm committed to my community. I really want to help where I can through with my artwork. But this piece I particularly like, they're also kind of special in different

00:26:33.270 - 00:26:47.870

ways, but this piece is really nice because it's like an airstream trailer and we have an old airstream trailer, it's just inner tubes wrapped around here and then it's painted flesh colored and then he painted the teeth on with the typewriter keys and everything there and

00:26:47.870 - 00:27:03.250

there's a wire frame work that holds everything up. Plus this hose here I think has some reinforcement in it to hold it up to because it sways back and forth. You can push it and it sways back and forth, but it never really, it never really

00:27:03.260 - 00:29:20.700

falls over. No. Yeah. Yes, No, no, no. Yeah, I think that he truly has found his own, his own niche and I think the fact that you can see so many

00:29:20.710 - 00:29:40.550

pieces in the community created by Patrick is a testament to the fact that, that people connect with him and he's able to translate their desires into a piece of, of art for their yard. I think people are proud, I think we're proud of ourselves as a

00:29:40.550 - 00:30:01.530

talent that loves art. Let's art flourish. And he's very impressed and surprised. I think at the response, the public response, not the individual response, but the public response that's just absolutely embraced this as a community identity. Really, I think his art on the sevastopol community has

00:30:01.530 - 00:30:25.940

really, really created a cohesiveness and just a sense of community. And I think it's been very influential and, and whimsical and fun. What's wonderful about Patrick's art is that it often takes uh, regular folks that are in the community, regular working class jobs. Um, folks doing

00:30:25.950 - 00:30:46.420

work, you know, in their trucks, uh, the firemen, uh, in general, it's talking about people that are around him and also, um, um, allowing residents to see themselves and his artwork. But it's also brought people together. People are out walking around and talking to each other

00:30:46.420 - 00:31:01.260

up and down the street. The neighbors are coming out rather than, you know, people behind their doors. So I like that, that aspect of his art. I think people love Patrick's work. Everybody I've even heard about who's talked about it. It it is the kind of

00:31:01.260 - 00:31:21.930

folk art that everybody can relate to. You don't have to be um, and art enthusiasts to enjoy his work. The statues are so whimsical and happy and I think that they've just kind of raised the spirits of everybody around town. It gives us the sevastopol stamp

00:31:21.930 - 00:31:37.500

of authenticity. You know, it's kind of like, this is really neat. This is, it makes us part of community. I think the nicest part about them from the little I know of Patrick and his family is that I think the whimsical nous of it really reflects

00:31:37.510 - 00:31:54.440

them. Um they're probably just about the most positive people I've ever been around and they just have such a great attitude. And I think the work, the artwork reflects them and their attitude and just kind of the whole joy they bring to life. I think I

00:31:54.440 - 00:32:12.190

feel sometimes that I'm this is too good and I have to share with my community. I I feel that I'm very privileged to lead the life I'm living and I guess it's not religiously based, it's just the fact that I I feel that it's a necessity

00:32:12.200 - 00:32:30.410

for me to share. Do you see his art as an attraction or a fad, does it matter? And I don't know, Patrick might be here for years, but and then again he might decide to try someplace else, do something new and and then we'll it'll be

00:32:30.410 - 00:32:46.100

sad he'll be gone. But you know, it won't be our local artist anymore. So it'll be a little different. But I think wherever Patrick goes, his work is going to be highlight successful and people enjoy it as long as they have it. Ah that's a good

00:32:46.100 - 00:33:02.940

question. It's a basketball, I think long lasting it's made a big impression on the town of Sebastopol and everyone's in love with his art and I think it's here to stay, it's everywhere, up and down Florence in people's yards all over. Even I think if Patrick

00:33:02.950 - 00:33:25.240

he's talked about moving on, he may, but I think his art definitely made a statement and I think it's something that will be long lasting. It's folk art, it's whimsical. We identify with the pieces in different ways. He characterizes everyday um everyday things in such a

00:33:25.250 - 00:33:42.760

fabulous way. So I think it'll be here for a long time to come. I think it's gonna last as long as new statues keep going up and people keep driving by. The love and appreciation of the work is still very high and we seem to keep

00:33:42.760 - 00:33:58.880

meeting new people who are discovering the street and his work over and over and over again. I don't imagine that it will, people stop and they scream up and down the street. It's clear they're from other places and they love it, they're amused by it. There

00:33:58.880 - 00:34:20.170

are a subject of much admiration and use the dogs were present for the first one. I always give her dogs christmas or birthday because dogs are faithful. I see myself, her dog. No, but there's this thing about, if you notice in the house, if you give

00:34:20.170 - 00:34:39.190

her, there's dogs everywhere, these little dogs, but it's always, always give her dog and her birthday, we always get each other hard. So dogs, always, my biggest thing my dog was was incredibly, it was a great dog. But you know, I was just amazed to see

00:34:39.190 - 00:34:57.810

how Rosie was so devoted to her master, never questioned, never. And my dog was a bit like my dog was always with me, you know, when you're an artist, I never had my dog sitting in the house, he was always with me wherever I went. Rosie

00:34:57.810 - 00:35:10.590

was. It was just like, she's always always with me. Like it was one of those relationships where My dog was like, like a farmer and his dog, I never go anywhere without and if I went somewhere she'd stay in the car and if I went too

00:35:10.590 - 00:35:25.100

long in the car until she walked up to me to the door and then wait there. And if it took me more than 10 minutes she'd just walk back and go and sleep under the car. But when I wasn't with tradition, I was Rosie died last

00:35:25.100 - 00:35:44.470

year, very sad. Two people here in sebastopol. They know Patrick more because of the work that they see on the street. And um, this is something that Patrick does on his own most of the time they say work by Patrick painted by Bridget, everything you see

00:35:44.470 - 00:36:08.120

in the studio, all the ceramic work has been done by Patrick and painted by me and um all the Jersey, the hockey Jersey, everything else, these animals that I paint labels on it will say that it's been painted by me, some of the pieces I signed

00:36:08.120 - 00:38:08.530

in the past, but I just don't find the desire to do So this spring Vancouver was the site for a gallery exhibit of ceramic and bronze sculptures pieces sculpted by Patrick and hand painted by Brigitte. At

00:38:08.540 - 00:38:20.730

first I thought it was kind of stupid and and I and I thought you know these things, you know this is kind of dumb and I didn't like it and I thought I kind of degraded things a little bit, you know, I was worried about my

00:38:20.730 - 00:38:35.060

property value and then you know after a while they are springing up everywhere and everybody's got him and then I just kind of wanted one, this black and red truck is gonna stay because it's a parody of my own real truck and I guess I always

00:38:35.060 - 00:38:46.310

say that I'm kind of a victim of art, I have to have it, I have to keep it, I did, I bought it just as soon as he finished it because there was so much interest in over the top of the gate, I could see the

00:38:46.310 - 00:38:59.420

cowboy hat and I said I want it. And he said you haven't even seen it yet, Evie, I said, I know Patrick, but I want it. And when he opened the gate there stood the sheriff as I was going to my car, I noticed that his

00:39:00.300 - 00:39:19.080

gates were open and when they're open you can go back into a studio and I went back there and I told him that I really liked the green tractor that he had. And so then we started talking and within I'd say probably within a month he,

00:39:19.730 - 00:39:38.480

he created this, this sculpture, I named it Albert after one of my uncles at Sebastopol Union School district. They sponsored an auction that we went to and Patrick had given this piece and I saw it earlier in the day because Noel was working and I thought

00:39:38.680 - 00:39:56.600

I want that dog and then I stood by later for her later in the evening toward the end and when people would come by I'd say don't bid on that dog, that's mine. So yeah, we came home with the statue's name is Willow and she was

00:39:56.610 - 00:40:14.270

created for her owner who is I believe also named Willow And so we agreed to um statutes that willow while her rightful owner is away on vacation. So we're kind of the foster parents right now one day I was driving by and I thought wow, you

00:40:14.270 - 00:40:25.360

know, I want to stop and see if he could do something for my husband for the foster freeze for his birthday. I told him what I had in mind and he thought that was neat and so then I thought I don't know if I can afford

00:40:25.360 - 00:40:37.110

this or not. So then I went back a couple more times before I finally decided okay, I'm going to do something with Patrick. So that's how I met him and that's how I saw his work. Actually. I'm gonna talk to Patrick and see if he can

00:40:37.110 - 00:40:50.150

start putting art on our street and since I'm a nurse I guess I know what I'll be asking for. People are jealous, people come by, they want one. Everybody goes by. How can I get one? Can I talk to him? I have a great yard. I'm

00:40:50.150 - 00:41:03.030

on a corner can I get one? And we always try to say, well it's up to him but I feel really privileged to have one and it does feel like being part of something wonderful. I'm a patron of the arts. Yeah, isn't that neat? My wife

00:41:03.040 - 00:41:27.080

has helped me become a patron of the arts of Sebastopol. I like that. Singing a song about art so cool, might be yellow or it might be blue, some that bark and some that mood, talking about that artist on Florence avenue, he might be welding or

00:41:27.080 - 00:41:42.490

he might use glue stuff together so it looks brand new, it could be something special after he gets through. Talking about that artist on Florence Avenue Elvis and the jukebox and a batman to a black and white cow, you can almost hear it move when you're

00:41:42.490 - 00:41:56.050

driving down the street, you're gonna notice quite a few. Talking about that artist on Florence Avenue, they put one in the yard, added just a few. The neighbors took a look and they kind of like the view. Soon the street became a gallery with people driving

00:41:56.050 - 00:42:03.830

through. Talking about that artist on Florence Avenue. Talking about that artist on Florence Avenue. Talking about that artist on Florence Avenue.