Who Is Pat Gallagher?

I find myself asking that question fairly often.

The first time I encountered Pat was at soccer practice (his son and my son play on the same team). One of the first things that you notice about Pat is that he’s comfortable talking with just about anyone – to the point where the questions that crossed my mind at the time were “who is that guy?” followed quickly by “what’s he going to try to sell me?”

As the soccer season moved on, I had more opportunities to actually talk with Pat and get a feel for what he’s really up to. I learned that he had previously worked in radio and in corporate recruiting, and was currently exploring his artistic side. This was all the more interesting because Pat (with encouragement from his wife) pretty much just decided “I’m going to be an artist”, and ran with it.

At some point, I noticed that he was bringing his work to practice. He was working on what I’ll call a “stained-glass window” piece – interconnected abstract shapes filled in with color. One of the extra children milling around the practice area noticed Pat working and approached him: “Are you an artist?” “Some people think so”, Pat replied. “What are you drawing?” “What do you think I’m drawing?” I liked that answer for several reasons, the main one being that adults often talk down to children, but Pat didn’t. It was also interesting because it demolished a key presupposition of mine about artists in general – that they are all welded to their own vision of what they’re creating.

Eventually, the soccer team started to play games on the road. I had the opportunity to vanpool with Pat, and through the ensuing conversations discovered him to be, at heart, a very down-to-earth guy who is deeply devoted to his family, and deeply curious about what makes the people around him tick. I think that curiosity and the insights he gains from it find their way into his work.

And that is very clever.

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