Patricia Douthwaite was born in Glasgow in 1934. She took classes with the dance pioneer Margaret Morris (1891-1980) and as a result met Morris’s partner, the Scottish Colourist J. D. Fergusson (1874-1961).
When Douthwaite decided to become a painter, Fergusson advised her against formal training, declaring ‘Go to art school? If you to go art school, you’ll never be an artist – you are an artist.’
Douthwaite embarked on a bohemian, itinerant career as an ‘outsider artist’. She poured her lived experience into emotionally charged work which can be at once unflinchingly honest and lyrically beautiful. Expressive draughtsmanship and high-keyed colour were used to convey psychological states from melancholic to humorous.
Douthwaite exhibited widely and was the recipient of several awards. However, this outward professional success was often combined with financial struggle and mental health challenges. The correspondence with the artist which accompanies Shall I go to Poland with a Garland of Kippers? illustrates one of the inventive ways in which she tried to secure an income. In a letter dated 16 December 1985 she explained:
‘My proposition is that each collector signs a Bankers Order of the sum of £25 a month over a period of 40 months. In exchange he / she can select one painting or three drawings of their choice…I shall arrange for a date when we can go to Whitby Oliver’s York warehouse where there are 1010 works to choose from…I am making this offer because being a professional artist with no other means of support is the hardest way to make a living and I must have the chance to continue to purchase working materials and to keep going.’
Douthwaite’s life continued to be eventful until the end, with further exhibitions, house moves and periods of ill health. Since her death in Dundee in 2002, her unique place in twentieth-century Scottish art has been established beyond doubt.