Pat Hilpert Art

 As a digital artist, a portion of my artwork begins by creating simple shapes.  The artistry comes into play when trying to figure out how to manipulate those shapes using color, shading, stretching, and layering (to name a few) into something the brain easily interprets as an everyday object or familiar scene.  It is exciting to me to see a circle become an apple, an oval become a bowl, or rectangles form a flight of stairs. The more you practice, the more convincing and realistic your pieces become.  The beauty and reward of such endeavors is watching someone look at your art piece for the first time and be totally convinced it is a photograph of the real thing(s).    Example Using Ovals: Example Using Rectangles: "Try doing this at home" and maybe you too will catch the art bug!  'Til next time.....Pat Hilpert         

 I spend 3-5 hours a day engaged with my digital art and photography and have done so for several years. This process has produced hundreds of artworks. Throughout this period, my biggest fan and best critic has been my husband, John.  I show him various stages of works in progress and occasionally he will share a brief comment. Be it encouraging or critical, I value his judgments and sometimes I even incorporate his suggestions into my art.  Several months ago, his comments seemed more like long descriptions of how one of my designs made him feel or how another of my pieces caused him to reflect.  It was exciting to me because as an artist, I always wonder how my imagination affects others.  Emotions an artwork conjures in me might be totally different for someone else.   Discussions with John on these observations led to a mutually rewarding series of art posters.  John's a word artist.  His career involved a lot of writing.  After tal...

 As a digital artist, once I choose a topic it is very hard for me to make just one artwork on that theme.    And then, after making a few, or even 30 in some cases, it is even harder to choose just one to actually print.  For example; a few months ago, I thought it would be fun to do some pieces in the style of the Bauhaus art movement which began in Germany and lasted from 1919-1933.  Bauhaus art is colorful, abstract, angular, and geometric.  I really enjoyed trying to put my spin on the first piece I produced, and I was pleased with the outcome.  So I did another.  And then another.  And then another.  You get the idea.  By the time my muse tired out I had about 20.  But as I said, when it came time to have one printed, I couldn't decide which one.  I narrowed it down to nine and could not cut any more.  My solution: make a collage of the final nine and print them all!  I liked the result. It is like a poster...

 I believe art is everywhere.  Most people will admit a scenic view is beautiful or a certain color catches their eye.  But these moments seem few and far between.  For our own personal happiness, I think we should try and be more aware of our surroundings and the soul refreshing sights that are all around us. I remember a family outing from Aberdeen, South Dakota, to Sisseton, South Dakota, to see an Historic State Park: Fort Sisseton.  One would expect the roughly ninety mile trip to take about an hour and a half.  But because I had just gotten a new SLR (single-lens reflex) digital camera, the jouney took us almost three hours!  Suddenly, everywhere I looked seemed interesting and beautiful to me and I had to have a picture of it so I could remember it forever.  Our three sons in tow were beside themselves at the slow progress of our trip.  But my patient and amazing husband seemed to enjoy my new-found passion and enthusiasm.  Old bu...

 Greetings and thank you for your time! My name is Pat Hilpert.  After practicing as a nurse for several years and exercising the analytical part of my brain, I am now focused on using the creative gray cells as a full-time artist based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  I spend 4-5 hours a day taking photographs or creating original artworks on my laptop primarily using Adobe Photoshop.  Some pieces are produced from my personal library of over 30,000 photographs.  Some art is constructed out of my imagination as a graphic art work.  And many are a combination of both.  For example:                         This photograph was taken in Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota, one of favorite places. "Girl With Pearl Earring" is my graphic art interpretation of Vermeer's 1665 work by the same name. "Museum Of Modern Art" is an example of my work using both photography and graphic art content.  I a...