Curing Cancer One Masterpiece at a Time!™

I met Patrick Dougherty at Kinko in Chapel Hill years ago. He won't remember, but I was fascinated by the drawings he was copying - pencil drawings of beautiful sweeping sculptures. Much like Bob Rauschenberg and Annie Leibovitz, Patrick was kind, generous, and fascinating. Remember, this conversation happened well before Patrick's work got featured at the NCMA and many other museums.

I've stood inside his spun sapling and stick sculpture, A Sight To Behold in Hillsborough, and it was a magical space where nature's poetry brushed thoughts about cancer away. Patrick's massive sculpture titled Out of the Box, the 74-foot masterpiece, makes eating at the North Carolina Museum of Art one of my favorite Raleigh eateries. His woven willow biomes blossom across the planet, yet I cherish the assemblies sprung in my backyard most for finding peaceful ports in cancerous storms. 

Dougherty's works are creative collaborations - how modest elements intertwine toward stunning collective impact thanks to the artist and typically an army of volunteers. Like his rustic installations, battles never braved alone might weave worn fragments into wonders. Building community, limb upon limb, brings comfort amid uncertainty when rough roads threaten to unravel us.

I also loved Patrick Step Right Up's two-year installation at UNC's Ackland Art Museum. Once stripped and sterile, Bark textures morph into fables transporting imagination into the promised land - dreams delivered by a Chapel Hill magician/artist who sees poetry in fallen trees. Branches broken by time now mend spirits, too. 

Patrick's soaring sculptures remind me that from nature's least likely gifts emerge unbelievable blessings. During harrowing times, I close my eyes and remember Patrick's soaring natural sculptures as fear gets replaced by hope, joy, and inspiration. 

Stickwork = Patrick's website.