Local artist Tif Ander Patterson keeps a whimsical, eclectic studio

If there was ever an I Spy book based on Spokane, there’s a good chance you might see a picture of Tif Ander Patterson’s studio inside the Spokane Print & Publishing Center. Only accessible through the publishing center’s main working space and its storage in the back, Patterson’s window-less space is as eclectic and whimsical as the work they produce.

I spy a plus-size Wonder Woman sticker and a bolo tie clasped by a ceramic skull. A painting of a worm smoking a cigarette. A 10-eyed dog with a knife. Three painted mannequin butts and a naked little Kewpie doll.

Patterson moved into their studio months before the pandemic began. In a period of change, they’d moved out of a large house they rented with their ex, a place they called Castle Honey Badger, and bought a tiny home for themself.

I spy a drawing of that huge Queen Anne-style house and a two-door blue locker that holds untold artistic secrets. A bowl of pronoun pins, a bed for 11-year-old Poncho the adventure dog and a vinyl shower curtain without a shower in sight.

Without the space they’d had in their previous home, Patterson had to find a place where they could work and store their creations full-time.

“I can’t do work in my house because of my dishes and my laundry and my taxes, like, I need a space that I can just leave it out and walk away from it and be able to shut down that part of me that is like figuring out the art in my head,” Patterson says.

“When I have a show, I basically live here — not literally because I’m not allowed to — but I’m here from evening to sun up. There’s no clocks in here for a reason,” they add. “I can get lost here, and it’s maybe not the best choice, but it is the way that I like to dive into my art.”

Though it’s the best studio setup they’ve had, Patterson still struggles with the ebb and flow of creativity that plagues many artists.

“There’s been long periods of times I have avoided this studio like the plague,” they say, “and other times where it’s like a lifesaver too. I have a really weird relationship to this space.”

I spy an artist who has filled their space, and the city they live in, with the most joyous and colorful art.

Local artist Tif Ander Patterson keeps a whimsical, eclectic studio

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