Patty Gagnon   |   Painting

Patty Gagnon has been a resident of Marquette, Michigan for 20 years. She received a BFA/painting degree from NMU in 2015 and a BA in English Literature with an art minor from UC Santa Barbara in the 1960s. She has also attended innumerable art workshops, including Turkish tile design in Istanbul.

Raised on dam projects around the world, she met her husband, Harvey, in Pakistan. They continued moving to new places with their three sons. In 2005, they served in the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan.
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SURPRISED BY JOY
‘Surprised by joy’ is a quote used by author Louise Penny in her Chief Inspector Gamache mystery series. It’s written on a plaque secured to the back of a park bench. Ms. Penny got it from CS Lewis, and he references a poem by Wordsworth. So, not a new idea – joy – but something I had forgotten in 2020.
It surprises us even in times of pandemics and uncertainties. Joy isn’t the same as happiness or pleasure. “Joy is never in our power.” It doesn’t deny death, darkness, evil, despair. We and our world are made up of all these parts, yet, look around and every once in a while it smacks you – joy. So here are the surprises of joy that hit me when I looked out, up and around.