Exhibit brings holiday feeling to Miller Hall
Campus Times
February 13, 2004
A slight chill can be felt in Miller Hall when one visits the Beside the Sea
art exhibit, a showcase featuring over 30 intriguing works of art by photographer
Patricia Simonite.
The exhibit is running from Jan. 12 through Feb. 20 in the Irene Carlson Gallery
of photography, located in Miller Hall and can be viewed from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
on weekdays.
The pictures are digital photographies, which are then printed on watercolor
paper, giving them a textured look.
The type of ink used is from an Epson 2000p printer, making the photos look
like postcards.
“One is attracted to the color and light in them. Her skill with color
composition is extraordinary. Her timing is great and she is very skilled”,
said Gary Colby, professor of photography at the University of La Verne.
Born in Norfolk, England, Simonite moved to America in 1972.
On her first visit back, she began taking pictures of the Norfolk and Suffolk
coast, where she had spent most of her childhood days.
The pictures express irony by the fact that they are of lively vacation spots
in England but show few, if any, people around. The landscape is dark but the
buildings are of rich bright colors.
“They capture beautiful moments. She makes ordinary things look beautiful”,
John Khanjian, professor of religion/philosophy at ULV, said.
After reading the statement about her art one sees through her eyes, her looking
back upon her childhood.
Her photos are of seemingly happy times, but instead they express loneliness
and vacancy.
“There is something haunting and lonely, yet beautiful”, said Colby
“The artist’s work gives me a feeling of relaxation that is not
often achieved in people’s everyday lives”, ULV student Jason Walker
said about this must see exhibit.
Simonite is an artist, photographer, and teacher.
She has a M.F.A. degree and is an assistant professor in the Department of
Art and Art History at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas.
Simonite is married and has three children.
She dedicated over 30 years to putting her home country recollections in scene
and already had exhibitions in Canada, Thailand and all over Europe.