14 OCTOBER 2020 | TheJournalNJ.com
Artist Taking a Break from International
Career to Focus on Studio Work
BY SHANNA O’MARA
NEIGHBOR
— to —
NEIGHBOR
W
many businesses operate, one woman has stopped traveling
internationally, having been given the opportunity to stay local
and remain focused on her artwork. Meet Rumson’s Pat Dunigan.
the Parsons School of Design. She realized her love for painting during
college when she took a related course and set up her own studio to create
Claude Monet-inspired, abstract landscapes. After graduation, she
pursued advertising as a career. She has worked with big name brands
such as Coca-Cola and now serves as a senior consultant on creative projects.
Looking back at her “long journey through the industry,” Dunigan
said it all started when she was a teenager working in New York City.
“When I was 17, I had a summer job at a big department store in
New York,” she said. “The store ran ads in The New York Times, and part
of my job was to bring the art materials to The New York Times’ building.
The next day, I would see the ad printed in the paper, and I think that
started my love of advertising.”
Seeing the printed ad excited her about all advertising can do. She
moved through the industry and worked with countless talented people,
each of whom brought a different skill set and level of enthusiasm. One
man, in particular, really inspired Dunigan and taught her to “see colors
and to be bold with them.” He was a TV commercial director in Australia
and the most creative person Dunigan said she had worked with. During
their many projects together all over the work, he encouraged her to get
back into painting, a passion she had left in her college days.
Today, she paints in a recently renovated studio she has had her
eyes on since she was young.
“As a child, friends of mine had a horse farm in Locust, down the
street from this building, and we’d ride there,” she said. “A few years
ago, I saw that it was vacant, and I wanted to rent the space.”
After contacting the owner, Dunigan was allowed to rent space in
the old antique store on Locust Point Road. She said she shares a location
with fellow local artist Lucy Kalian. Here, Dunigan plays with color
and shapes to create expressionist paintings, collages and some 3D art.
“In the studio, I’m totally on my own,” she said. “I don’t know if
I’ll have any ideas that
day, but it’s a private
space to explore my
thoughts and creativity.”
Privacy isn’t something
Dunigan always
had when she worked.
She began creating her
terminals and on long
pieces of paper from
magazines while she
working on various projects. She said she has worked for Coca-Cola,
commercials with Whitney Houston, The Muppets, Claudia Schiffer,
Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, JJ Watt, Pélé and Michael Phelps.
Although her two creative outlets are vastly different, Dunigan said
these two parts of her life “feed into each other.”
“Advertising has been such a fun experience,” she said.
“Working with all different people, who bring all different talents
-
orative process. It’s constant electricity. You either get into it and
absolutely love it, or you realize the long hours are not for you.”
Although that electricity has dimmed during the pandemic,
Dunigan said she is grateful for the opportunity to focus on her solitary
artwork. As for future endeavors, she is interested in painting
even larger pieces and turning her artwork into designs for rugs,
wallpaper and fabric and even surfboards.
To learn more about Dunigan and view her art, follow her on
Instagram @patdunigan or visit PatDunigan.com.
Three things to know about Pat Dunigan:
1. During college, Dunigan wanted to work in the United
Nations. She said she is fascinated by other cultures
and foreign languages.
2. Of all the places she has traveled, Dunigan said her
favorites were Italy and the Greek islands because
of the starkness and contrast of the colors in the
landscape. And the food is pretty good, too!
3. She is currently working on a series of pieces inspired
by paint she dropped while working and the colors
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