{"id":9226,"date":"2012-02-21T17:50:59","date_gmt":"2012-02-21T22:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/next.mixtemagazine.ca\/?p=9226"},"modified":"2021-04-20T17:18:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-20T21:18:22","slug":"drawing-a-daily-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mixtemagazine.ca\/en\/m06-en\/drawing-a-daily-passion\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing, a daily passion"},"content":{"rendered":"
FOR MOST PEOPLE, WORK AND PASSION ARE NOT SYNONYMOUS. BUT PATTY XENOS, FOUNDER OF PATTY XENOS DESIGN, LINKS HER INTRINSIC INTEREST IN DRAWING TO HER WORK AS A DESIGNER. IMPROVING ON WORDS, SHE EXPRESSES HER THOUGHTS AND HER CONCEPTION OF SPACE THROUGH DRAWING.<\/p>\n
Without even realizing it, we have all had occasion to\u00a0appreciate the work of Patty Xenos, be it taking in a\u00a0Canadiens game at the Bell Centre, strolling through the\u00a0village at the foot of Mont Tremblant, staying at the H\u00f4tel\u00a0Quintessence, or sampling a dessert at the P\u00e2tisserie de\u00a0Gascogne on Laurier, to name just a few venues.\u00a0For thirty years, Patty has quietly and discretely conceived\u00a0and overseen the development of public spaces,\u00a0hotels, restaurants, even stores. The interior designer\u00a0has\u00a0never sought public recognition; her commercial and real\u00a0estate clients know well enough who she is and that’s\u00a0what really counts for her. Xenos who prefers to let her\u00a0sketches speak for her, sums it up this way, \u201cIn my field,\u00a0we\u2019re only as good as our last job. If we do good work,\u00a0we won\u2019t want for more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drawing, passionately<\/strong> \nThe love of drawing has fueled Patty since she was a\u00a0little girl: \u201cWhen I had no paper, I would draw on any free\u00a0surface I could find, portraits, cars, in fact, anything I\u00a0saw that struck me as an interesting composition. I\u00a0regularly got into trouble for drawing on the walls,\u201d she\u00a0smiles. Her eyes sparkle when she recalls the time\u00a0when, short of paper, her mother gave her withe pages\u00a0from the telephone book so she could indulge her\u00a0favorite pastime.\u00a0Xenos\u2019s field of interest comes to her naturally, as several\u00a0members of her family on her mother’s side were artists, and one\u00a0of her cousins was an architect: \u201cHe was my mentor, I admired him\u00a0very much and I was in love with his drafting table,\u201d says the\u00a0designer, who dreamed as a child to draw cartoons.<\/p>\n
Listening instead to the advice of her cousin, she inquired about\u00a0a career in design and chose to pursue her studies at Dawson\u00a0College. To this day, what she loves most about her profession is\u00a0the satisfaction that comes from problem solving through her\u00a0freehand sketches. While many designers use computer programs\u00a0to shape their projects, Patty remains faithful to paper and pencil\u00a0in the early stage of creation: \u201cWorking at a computer disrupts my\u00a0creative flow\u201d, explains the artist for whom nothing is more exciting\u00a0than a blank sheet of paper… because from there, everything is\u00a0possible.<\/p>\n
The secret is in the details<\/strong> \nFor Patty, the drawing is the most powerful form of nonverbal\u00a0communication: \u201cExperience has taught me that a simple\u00a0freehand sketch communicates more than a long conceptual\u00a0discussion about a design. It allows people to dream with you in\u00a0three dimensions,\u201d says Patty, who has never entertained any\u00a0other passion. In fact, she reveals, drawing is the catalyst that\u00a0enabled her to discover interior design. In other words, one is\u00a0essential to the other.<\/p>\n
Travel, which could have constituted an alternative passion, is\u00a0also closely linked to her profession; over the years, the designer\u00a0has travelled extensively and realized several projects outside of\u00a0Qu\u00e9bec. Thus, whenever Patty sets foot in a new city, her first reflex\u00a0is to find a bookstore to buy every book she can find on the local\u00a0architecture, history, and design. Her observations and readings\u00a0constitute what she calls her \u201cmental archives,\u201d a resource she\u00a0then taps into for inspiration. All this wealth of experience contributes\u00a0to her interior design vision, expressed in the creation of timeless\u00a0interiors: “Because trends don\u2019t last,\u201d she notes. \u201cOne of my\u00a0greatest feelings of satisfaction comes from returning to a project\u00a05-10 years later, and getting that nod of affirmation from the client\u00a0that it still works, feels good and that it has aged well.\u201d To achieve\u00a0these results, one must create a strong layout, use only the finest\u00a0materials, study the movement of natural light within each space,\u00a0respect human needs, understand behavior and ensure that it all\u00a0feels right: \u201cWhy is it that we never sit in certain rooms, Patty asks.\u00a0Is it the layout, or furniture? Light? Colour? There\u2019s a reason and in\u00a0the drawing of it, I arrive at the solution,\u201d concludes this designer\u00a0who, with her team, is presently leading the interior design\u00a0redevelopment of the Ritz-Carlton Residence Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mixtemagazine.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/111_PASSION.jpg\" "\\"Patty")