Artwork copyright Virginia Paquette. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Portuguese Waters, 1993

Virginia Paquette
American (born 1947, died 2022)

Location: Mount Baker Middle School, Auburn

About the Artwork

Portuguese Waters is an abstract painting by artist Virginia Paquette, created through a painting process that combines improvisation, memory, and formal composition. It is part of a group of artworks that explore her fascination with water and reference drawing studies of water by Leonardo da Vinci. She describes this artwork as further influenced by the architecture and environment of coastal Portugal, where she lived for several months. She notes, “I’ve used bits of symbols, shapes, and colors culled from the Manueline architecture of the country… and the pools and moving water elements found in that western part of Portugal.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with Auburn School District.

About the Artist

The late Seattle-based artist Virginia Paquette created paintings and conceptual public art installations. She stated that the primary urge in her work is "to make marks, images, symbols that will communicate to you a message, feeling, visual stimuli that may be pleasing or thought-provoking."
Paquette received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1976 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1978, both in painting, from the University of Washington in Seattle.