Patricia Parkes attended the Banff School of Arts and the University of Victoria, where she was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Since then, she has worked mainly as a mixed-media artist, participating in both international and local shows. She is currently working with cold-pressed papers: Arches, Strathmore, Rives, and handmade Indian papers. She layers these on a hard backing and, during and after buildup, the layers are cut, torn, sanded, soaked, sprayed, scraped, and/or painted, in “a search for the image within. These destructive processes are every bit as interesting as the simple creation of a finished product. “Shadow Rider” is an example of this approach.