Patricia Ford Crass

Patricia Ford Crass (born May 17, 1923  – is an American painter and illustrator, trained in figurative and portrait painting. She lives in Palo Alto, California and Carmel, California. She has won awards for both her watercolor and oil works, and also participated in many workshops in the California bay area. She has shown her work in numerous local exhibitions.

Patricia Ford Crass
Patricia Crass
Born (1923-05-17) 17 May 1923
San Francisco, California
NationalityAmerican
EducationArt Institute of Chicago, Chouinard Art Institute
Known forPainting, watercolor
Spouse(s)Alexander D. Henderson III, Richard R. Crass

Early life
Parents
Byington Ford 1890-1985
Marion Boisot 1897-1990

Patricia Ford was born in San Francisco on May 17, 1923 to a notable economic and political family.[1] She is the second daughter of Marion Boisot and prominent Monterey Peninsula real estate developer Byington Ford. Her paternal grandfather was lawyer and notable politician Tirey L. Ford. Her maternal gradfather was the successful banker Emile Kellogg Boisot.

She spent much of her youth in Carmel Valley and Pebble Beach, California, where art was always a part of her life.

At age 3, her mother commissioned the artist and writer Jo Mora to create bronze statues of her and her two other sisters. The statues were made in Mora's studio in Pebble Beach. In 2003, the statures were exhibited at the Museum of Monterey for artist Jo Mora. It is noteworthy, that Patricia and her sister, Tommy, attended this event.

She lived in Pebble Beach until the age of 11. The family lived on world-renowned 17-Mile Drive overlooking the first hole on the Pebble Beach Golf course. She went to the Douglas School, which is now the private Stevenson School in Pebble Beach. In 1936, she moved to San Francisco and went to the private, all-girls Sarah Dix Hamlin School in San Francisco. She spent the summers at her mother's exclusive Moon Trail Ranch in Carmel Valley, California.

Education

Patricia attended Westridge Private High School for Girls in Pasadena, California from 1938-1939. She transferred to Brownmoor High School, a girl’s private boarding school in Santa Fe, New Mexico (1939-1941), where she graduated.

In 1944, Patricia studied figurative and still life oil painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. She lived at the Three Arts Club of Chicago. At the Institute in Chicago, she was influenced by the painters, Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. In 1947, she went to the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles. At Chouinard, she took a one-year commercial art course, which included lettering, drawing, and painting.

Working as an artist

In 1948, Patricia and Tommy launched “Pataud” that was the trade name for after-ski and cocktail skirts and sweaters. They sold for $40-$100 and had the local women knitting sweaters and sewing the skirts. They also developed hand painted Ski Postcards.[2]

In 1949, Patricia, and her sister Tommy, appeared as Chorus Liners in The Paisano newspaper at Robles Del Rio, California. She painted the mural decorations and the pretzel barrels.

Pat and Tommy worked at the Telamir Productions of Monterey doing commercial art in 1950. Patricia worked on a new television series based on the wartime exploits of the Flying Tigers. The series was based on a Cosmopolitan magazine story by Larry Moore and starred Richard Denning.[3]

On July 15, 1950, Patricia and Tommy were in charge of the décor for the “South Pacific Nite” costume party held in the new Surf Room at the Pebble Beach's Beach Club.[4] In the second in a series of costume parties at Pebble Beach, Patricia and Tommy used their talents in the decorations for the event.[5]

Marriage and children

On February 17, 1951, Patricia Ford married her first husband, Alexander D. Henderson III, in 1951.[6] Henderson was the son of Alexander D. Henderson, Jr., a former vice president of Avon Products. She has five children, Dawson Alexander Henderson, Gregory Ford Henderson, David Girard Henderson, Scott Douglas Henderson and Holly Alexandra Henderson-Fouladi.

She married her second husband, Richard Reid Crass, on December 5, 1970, at the All Saints Chapel in Wilmington, Delaware, who was a successful executive vice president at DuPont.[7]

Training
Nude by Patricia F. Crass
Man with saxophone

Patricia participated in many workshops. These workshops allowed Patricia to study on location with some of the finest watercolorists in the nation, including Charles Reid, Robert E. Wood, Jane Hofstetter, Ted Goerschner, Barbara Nechis, Dan Peterson, and Don Andrews. Patricia also studied with Jade Fon founder of the Watercolor Workshops at the Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California.

On April 4, 1981, Patricia went to a Dan Peterson workshop in Calistoga, California. In this workshop, she learned about spending a lot of time working out composition. She wrote in her journal: "Failure to plan is to plan for failure."

On June 5, 1988, Patricia went to the Robert E. Wood workshop. In her workshop journal she wrote: "The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn! You can't explore (take chances), with out alot of failures. You learn with the brush in hand (the experience of doing it)." She went to another Robert Wood workshop on November 6, 1989.[8]

On June 27, 1988, Patricia went to the Don Andrews workshop at the Asilomar. In her workshop journal she wrote: "The glow of watercolor is what makes watercolor so special." She went again to his workshop on July 2, 1990, where she wrote in her journal: "All learning includes failure. You have to push yourself to try new ways to paint."

Workshop list
  • Jade Fon 10-day workshop at the Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California, 1981; focus on trees
  • Millard Sheets at the Jade Fon Asilomar workshop, 1981; focus is on style and sketching
  • Dan Peterson workshop in Calistoga, California, 1981; focus on landscapes
  • Stan Wacholz workshop in Mendocino, California, 1981; focus was on boats, houses
  • Ted Goerschner workshop in Vasona Reservoir, Los Gatos, California and Wildwood Park, Saratoga, California, 1981; focus on landscape painting
  • Tom Hill at the Asilomar in Pacific Grove, California, 1981; focus on Mexican missions
  • Jane Hofstetter and multiple workshops in 1981-1983, 1989, 1992, 1994; focus on landscapes, seascapes, and buildings
  • Barbara Nechis watercolor workshop in Napa, California, 1981; focus on flowers and landscapes
  • Helene Barber classes at the Palo Alto Art Club, 1984; live models
  • Betty Lynch workshop, 1985
  • Rex Brandt workshop, 1985; focus on flowers and use of color
  • Robert E. Wood workshop, 1988, 1989
  • Don Andrews workshop at the Asilomar, 1988, 1990
  • Pat Deadman workshops in Calistoga, 1991; focus on watercolor, very abstract
  • Leo Smith workshop at the Asilomar, 1991
  • Jane Burnham workshop at the Mission, 1991
  • Dale Laitinen workshop, 2001, focus on landscapes
  • Bob Gerbracht, 2002, focus on portraits
  • Donna Zagotta, 2003, focus on color and shapes

Technique

Patricia is best known for her numerous watercolor paintings. Her collective work is mainly in the area of French Impressionism and Abstract art. She uses broad brush strokes paying less attention to details. She enjoys painting with watercolors and oils. Her paintings were done from real life.

Later years

Patricia is always practicing her art and has a sketchbook at hand so she can paint or sketch what she likes. In 1980, Patricia appeared on the cover of Openspace, published by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. She painted at an open space preserve in Woodside, California with a group called the Peninsula Outdoor Painters.[9]

Patricia has lived in Atherton, California for 39 years before coming to the Vi in Palo Alto in 2011. She also has a home in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. She continues to paint, garden, play bridge, and travel.

Travels

In the late 80's and 90's she traveled a great deal. Patricia took a trip to Italy on September 18, 1989 with Jane Hofstetter and her artist group. She took another trip to France with a group of art friends, including her teacher Jane Hofstetter, from September 10 through 28, 1992. The trip was called “In the Footsteps of the Impressionists with Jane Hofstetter.” She saw Claude Monet's Water Lilies on one outing. She took another trip September 5-23, 1994 called "An artist's tour of Great Britain with Jane Hofstetter. On this trip she collected post cards from the different locations she visited and added them to her scrapbook journal.[10]

Art shows
Patricia Ford Crass 2009 Art Show

She has been exhibited in major institutions including:

  • White Oak Inn (Carmel Valley), 1949, called Portraits by Patricia
  • Holbrook Palmer Park (Atherton), 1985
  • Menlo Art League (Menlo Park), 2009
  • Vi's Gallery (Palo Alto), 2011, collection of watercolors and oils
  • Vi's Gallery (Palo Alto), 2015, portrait of woman holding a basket, floral arrangement

Memberships

Awards
  • Menlo Art League - October 7, 2007, Watercolor-Second Place

References
  1. "Patricia Ford". FamilySearch. 1923. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  2. "Ford Girls Entertain". The Carmel Pine Cone. Carmel, California. 1948-09-24.
  3. "Telamir To Do Flying Tigers Film Series for TV". Billboard. Monterey, California. 1950-05-25. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  4. "Sisters Patricia". The San Francisco Examiner. Pebble Beach. 1950-07-15. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  5. "Notes From Pebble Beach". The Californian. Pebble Beach. 1950-08-12. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  6. "Patricia Ford Becomes Mrs. A. D. Henderson III". The San Francisco Examiner. Carmel Valley. 1951-03-04. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  7. "Mrs. Henderson, Mr. Crass Wed". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. 1970-12-19. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
  8. Patricia F. Crass Journal; June 5, 1988, November 6, 1989
  9. "A Case For Open Space". Openspace (2): 1–6. 1980.
  10. Pat's Journals she wrote on her trips to France, Italy, and Great Britain
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