The Buzz!
The Richmond Review, Friday, June 9, 2000
Chris Bryan, staff reporter
Passion Play
Artistic drive freed Willoughby from "soul-numbing" career
People trapped in a dull, uninspiring, thankless job, take note:
Pat Willoughby knows exactly how you feel. For her, the job was word processing for an engineering firm for 17 "soul-numbing years".
It wasn't a surprise that the 37 year-old ended up doing data entry. After all, her dad was a systems analyst for Crown Zellerbach for most of his career before dying young at age 49. Her mom was a housewife, and instilled in Willoughby the idea of living a practical life. It was her mother's early death in 1997 that radically changed the course of Willoughby's life.
Within months, she'd quit her job and had dedicated her life to an artistic passion that until that point was just a relatively untapped hobby.
"It was basically her death that made me realize, oh boy, if I really have a passion for this, it's time to do something about it, rather than putting it away for a rainy day, or retirement, or whatever," Willoughby says.
With the help of a small inheritance, she's been able to set up a workshop in her home and says she's given herself the next few years to carve out a living.
Her medium is oilstick, which she loves because it's oil painting, but with a crayon-like tool.
"The freeing aspect of it, it kind of hearkens back to childhood, you know, like colouring in a colouring book. It's child-like and joyous in that way."
She says that since becoming an artist, she's experienced a joy she hasn't felt since she was a kid.
She works in bursts of inspiration, often completing a work in a single sitting. Her latest series is called, not surprisingly, Passion For Life. She's completed 44 pieces since starting last October, and continues to produce more every week.
Right from the beginning, her creative process might be described as tectonic in nature – a far cry from her data entry days.
"It just started to erupt from me. I felt like I was just channeling it in a way. The slow, methodical stuff - I just don't have the patience for that."
The result is work that uses bold colours and lines, and incorporates symbols in an almost logo-like fashion. Her art has been compared to Vancouver artist, Joe Average and New York's Keith Haring.
This weekend, she'll be unveiling her Passion For Life series, along with the works of about 15 other artists as part of the Artists Among Us show.
Although they would have likely said "what are you doing, quitting your job? Are you insane?" if they were still alive, Willoughby says she knows they are behind her decision 100 per cent.
"I sort of feel I have a few guardian angels looking out for me, saying 'go for it'."
Artists Among Us includes a preview exhibition from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at the Richmond Art Gallery. The participating artists' studios will be open for tours Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
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