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Buffy Patterson Gaston“"Buddy"“Locklear

Buffy Patterson’s art is hard to define, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. Growing up at the beaches of Garden City, Gaston Locklear was introduced to surfing at
In fact, the vibrant colors and mixed media she’s known to use add to the lively flavor a young age. While his passion for the curving coastal waves grew, so did his skill for art.
of her work. The two blended together on the margins of his school notebooks, which were lined with
doodles of surf-scapes.
Patterson doesn’t consider herself
a fine artist, but it’s clear that she Soon, Locklear was armed with a B.A. in
can find inspiration in the smallest graphic design and a minor in fine art
details of daily life. from South Carolina, and his tool evolved
from a pencil to a paintbrush. He began
“I don’t have it all the time – experimenting with watercolors, then acrylics
it ebbs and flows,” Patterson says and finally oils, which is his current medium
of her artistic impetus. “When I of choice. Over the years, his paintings have
see something or I hear of evolved, too, progressing from realism to
something that inspires me, I contemporary and presently bordering on
make it my own and turn it into the abstract.
something that has meaning to me
and hopefully others.” “After college, I focused my life around the
two things I love most, surfing and painting,”
When her inspiration strikes, Locklear says. “Traveling around the world,
Patterson will use acrylics and any working for different surfboard shapers, and catching world-class waves has enabled me to
paint that she can find along with combine these two loves.”
metal, photographs and natural
elements from the area. She’ll create on canvas, wood or any number of other media. According to Locklear, his experiences ultimately make it onto a canvas as memories stirred
up by old photos, conversations or familiar tunes from a recent excursion.
Patterson is most well-known for her hyper-local “843 Collection,” which incorporates
the regional area code that covers the eastern third of South Carolina, including “Everything influences my work, from the old masters like Gaugin and Klimt to modern
Pawleys Island. Her other work ranges from colorful and textured sea creatures to passionate art, graphic design and pop culture,” Locklear asserts. “In my paintings I try to capture more
abstracts to vivid interpretations of iconic local landmarks. than just the sensation of riding waves, but the entire surfing lifestyle.”

While Patterson had some training in high school, her art fell by the wayside until her mother His most recent series of work is inspired by the layers of graphics found on billboards,
was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the early 2000s. Struggling to sleep and cope, she turned urban walls and other public spaces.
to her art as a therapeutic outlet.
“Over time, bits and pieces of information are lost and overlapped, leaving the surface
“When my mom got sick, I really found myself,” Patterson recalls. “I dug deep and became covered with textures and colors from a lifetime of stories,” Locklear says. “These surfaces
someone who had more passion for life and others. I just wanted to express it through parallel the human experience. As we age, some memories are lost while new ones are
my art.” added, all embedded in the physical and emotional scars we carry with us.”
Jim Arnold
Although Patterson’s work is available for purchase, she often donates to local organizations
for fundraisers and auctions. She has art on display locally at Perrone’s Restaurant and a piece
was selected to be displayed in the new Pawleys Island Town Hall. Her art is best viewed on
her Instagram account, @remiartifacts.

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