Artist Biography & Facts

Pat Olive (Patricia) Service

Pat Service BA (1941)

A painter and printmaker, Pat Service (aka: Patricia Olive Service; aka: Mrs. David Grant Nelson – m. 1964) was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia. Between 1963 and 1972 she lived in Eastern Canada, Scotland and Venezuela. She has lived in Vancouver, B.C. since 1972. Her paintings are in numerous corporate collections and several museum collections. Her work was featured in the exhibition “Clement Greenberg: A Critic's Collection.”

Her mediums are acrylics, oils, watercolors, monoprint* and mixed mediums. Her primary subjects are landscapes, still life, florals and animals. Her styles could be described as Fauvism* and Color Field Painting*. The askART auction results have several good illustrations of her work.

Her education includes a Bachelor of Arts degree (English and Latin) from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver (1959 – 1963); as well as, studies at the Glasgow School of Art*, Scotland (1966 – 1967); several Emma Lake Artists’ Workshops*, Saskatchewan (1980 – 1991); the Triangle Artists' Workshop (see Triangle Arts Association*) for painters and sculptors, New York (1983 and 1993); and, the Sheffield Lake Workshop, Tamworth, Ontario (1995).

Her works were featured in the exhibitions "Contemporary Canadian Art: The Current Generation" at the Edmonton Art Gallery [now Art Gallery of Alberta], Alberta (1983); "North of the Border: Contemporary Vancouver Art" at the Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, Washington (1990); Reflecting Paradise" at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta (1994); "Recent Acquisitions" at the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (1994 and 2004); “Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas” at the Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi and touring the USA (1996); “Landscape '96: Placing Site/Siting Place” at the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon (1996); "A Perspective on Drawing" at the Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts, Calgary, Alberta (1996); “Clement Greenberg: A Critic's Collection” at the Portland Art Museum, Oregon (2001); and in "A Prairie Companion" at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax (2007).

She was the subject of the solo exhibition “Pat Service: Out of the Ordinary: Paintings, Monoprints and Watercolours, 1986 – 1996” at the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon (1997).

Her works have also been featured in solo and group exhibitions at many prominent commercial galleries such as Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver; Buschlen-Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver; The Studio Gallery, West Vancouver; Newzones Gallery, Calgary; Canadian Art Galleries, Calgary; Scott Gallery, Edmonton; The Gallery, Art Placement Inc., Saskatoon; Nikola Rukaj Gallery, Toronto; Gallery One, Toronto; Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Ontario; Wallack Galleries, Ottawa; Transamerica Galleries, Los Angeles; Wade Gallery, Los Angeles; and Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

According to the Canadian Heritage Information Network* and individual museum sources, her works are in the permanent collections of the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax), Canada Council Art Bank (Ottawa, Ontario), Mendel Art Gallery [now Remai Modern] (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), Portland Art Museum (Portland, Oregon), University of Lethbridge Art Gallery (Lethbridge, Alberta), and the University of Saskatchewan Art Collection (Saskatoon). (1)

Her works are also in over 60 corporate collections such as Air Canada, Montreal; American Express, Toronto; TD Canada Trust, Toronto; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Vancouver; Sun Life Center, Toronto; Texaco Canada Resources, Calgary; Telus, Edmonton and Vancouver; and Xerox Canada, Toronto. (2)

Her honors include the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (1993), which is awarded by the Governor General of Canada to Canadians who have made a significant contribution to their fellow citizens, to their community or to Canada.

 
Footnotes:

(1) Researchers please note: There are several museums listed on the artist’s website which do not appear on our list because they could not be confirmed through the Canadian Heritage Information Network* or at the individual museum’s website, as are all the ones on our list. – M.D. Silverbrooke

(2) Researchers please note: This is a small selection of the extensive list of corporate collectors on the artist’s website. – M.D. Silverbrooke

Sources – Books and Catalogues:

A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume 8, Safdie to Smith (2006), by Colin S. MacDonald; Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Limited, Ottawa, Ontario

Biographical Index of Artists in Canada (2003), by Evelyn de Rostaing McMann (see askART Publications)

The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction (2001), by Anthony R. Westbridge and Diana L. Bodnar (see askART Publications)

Clement Greenberg: A Critic's Collection (2001), by Karen Wilkin and Bruce Guenther; Portland Art Museum, Oregon and Princeton University Press

The Pacific Northwest Landscape: A Painted History (2001), by Kitty Harmon and Jonathan Raban; Sasquatch Books, Seattle

Who's Who of Canadian Women, 1999 – 2000 (1999), by Gillian Holmes; University of Toronto Press

Pat Service: Out of the Ordinary: Paintings, Monoprints and Watercolours, 1986 – 1996 (1997), by George Moppett; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon

Landscape '96: Placing Site/Siting Place (1996), by Terry Fenton et al; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon

Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas (1996), edited by David Clemmer and Evan Eckerstrom; Gerald Peters Gallery, Sante Fe, New Mexico

Canadian Who’s Who – 1996 (1996), edited by Elizabeth Lumley; University of Toronto Press

Drawn to the Edge: The Paintings of Pat Service (1992), by Robert Christie; published by by Buschlen-Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver


Sources – Websites and Email:
Canadian Heritage Information Network*

British Columbia Artists (website)

University of British Columbia Alumni Association (email July 7, 2020)

Danielle Siemens, Collections Manager, Art Gallery of Alberta (email July 10, 2020)
Governor General of Canada (website)

Pat Service (website)

For more in-depth information about these terms and others, see AskART.com. Glossary http://www.askart.com/AskART/lists/Art_Definition.aspx

Written and contributed to askART by M.D. Silverbrooke.