Patti Parrish

Patti Lowry-Parrish, Artist, Illustrator and Creator of Treasures

Photo by Dee Beaugez

Patti Lowry-Parrish seems to find time for it all. She still teaches art classes; she re-purpose things and creates treasures for sale at the shop; helps out at the local flower shop; and still finds time to paint and illustrate coloring books for the Safe To Learn Project. No matter where Patti goes, she always finds ways to include artful expressions in her life and the lives of others.

Patti placed one of the first Trans-Atlantic calls to Europe while at her first job with AT&T; they soon discovered her art talent and she found herself working as an artist for their monthly magazine. She married early and left AT&T to help her husband manage his motorcycle funeral escort service in California. Her art talents helped her design marketing campaigns that transformed the small company into one of the largest of it's kind in Los Angels, Orange and Riverside Counties.

Her next adventure began when she pulled up roots and moved to Reno, Nevada. She and her husband bought two companies, a mail service and a flower shop. Even though Patti never worked in the flower business, she turned Flowers by Patti into a thriving business.

Her art talents and marketing skills helped her win some unusual contracts such as when her team was responsible for handing out roses as guest deplaned from the first Air France Concord's flight into Reno International Airport. Another contract proved Patti was never afraid of anything. She climbed in a cherry picker and up she went so she could tie gigantic red ribbons on the downtown Reno - Biggest Little City in the World sign to support a state-wide traffic safety campaign supporting Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD). When an officer was killed by a drunk driver in Reno, the main highway was closed for 5 minutes between Carson City and Reno. Patti was right there placing red ribbons on the highway as the Governor's helicopter landed and members of the Air National Guard did a fly-by paying respect with a missing man formation.

"The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere,
far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep."~Paul Strand

Her next adventure was making the decision to travel to Texas when her son and his family left Reno. She found herself settling in pastoral rural town where she settled into a small home over-looking a beautiful lake. It wasn't long before her son built her an art studio where she spends her days painting, teaching art classes and creating unique treasures. In 2011, she ventured back to the world of retail and she and a friend started a small shop. Patti loves cats, so they decided to call the shop Calico Cat Antiques & Treasures. Patti loves finding things and re-purposing them into home and garden treasures, "I love taking old furniture that no one wants and making it beautiful so it once again becomes a treasure in someone's home."

Patti simply does not know the word can't! She is a true artist in every sense of the word because each day she finds a way to express herself and bring joy through her creative expressions to all of those around her.
-Pablo Picasso said it best, "He can who thinks he can, and he can't who thinks he can't. This is an inexorable, indisputable law. ” And in this case...It is Patti who thinks she can and always encourages others to think they can too.

Created by Patti Lowry-Parrish