I can’t even begin to express how thrilled I am to be working with Pat Zalisko on the January issue. I first engaged with her work when we were both fellows at VCCA and I’ve continued to be inspired by it ever since. And the rarest of the rare is happening for this issue–Pat is reading each piece of work and using the work as inspiration to paint and/or choose from her body of existing work. Pat is an avid reader and a prolific artist and we are incredibly fortunate to not only have her work, but to have her direct engagement with the written word. Someone, please pinch me.

Here are some samples to whet your appetite for the upcoming issue, which has a theme of SPARK.

Pat has wonderful childhood memories of painting intricate Ukrainian eggs, pysanky, one of her first creative experiences. This distinctly feminist art form was developed thousands of years earlier and has ritualistically been taught to Ukrainian girls and women. Born and raised in New York City, she was encouraged to pursue a practical career as an attorney.  She retired from a successful legal career and fully embraced her passion for painting in her new Florida environ.

Pat broadened her innate knowledge by studying in residencies, local universities and with select instructors such as Steven Aimone and Harold Garde, both of whom recognized her talent and commitment to creating art.

Over the past several years, her art has regularly appeared in major private and public collections in the United States and abroad.

In the artist’s own words: “As I paint, I shift back and forth between intuitive and cognitive states. Intuitively applying paint and drawing elements on surfaces, often rapidly and without analysis, prompts powerful memories and perceptions. It is visceral — pure sensation, emotion, and memory. Then, shifting into the cognitive, I record and explore as I move between the emerging image and the instinctive application of paint and mark. ”