Meet Piper Patterson | Writer,actor and amateur apothecary

We had the good fortune of connecting with Piper Patterson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Piper, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I didn’t want to be lonely! The only people I was able to connect with as a kid were creatives (even if they didn’t know that’s what they were themselves). I was magnetized to people with deep curiosity, an openness to rock or break their own sense of reality, and a willingness to vulnerably distribute their discoveries to the community. I guess those traits could be applied to any field but the artistic bent involves exposure of intimate inner processes that fascinate and terrify me. Maybe it was external and I emulated the courageous artists I was exposed to, or maybe I’m inherently prone to the creative process but either way I think the magic of connection and artistic family drove me most. It’s a kind of home. Frankly if other career paths would’ve had me I’d be doing something else, but water finds its level.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My artistic life can be a game of whack a mole at times. I never know when or where the next pop will be and it’s rarely in the same place twice. At the moment I’m rearranging and recording a lot of music I’ve written over the years which is stirring up new material and I can barely sleep at night there’s so much to explore! In spring I worked on a film that will be released in December and this winter I’m producing a romantic horror film with a Chicago based writer/director. A couple years ago I was having the time of my life in a new musical and when I didn’t get invited to continue on to Broadway with the project, I really let it crush me. I mean that was the point right? That was the marker of success everyone seemed to expect me to reach.The show was very successful and I sort of hid away, tail between legs. I had also unwillingly ended a six year romantic partnership and artistic collaboration and was in the process of talking myself out of being an artist altogether. I had become disillusioned with being chosen, booking the gig, marketing myself, squeezing into some poorly articulated mold that the industry coyly denied having. I didn’t know then that being dumped on my ass in multiple ways would be the best thing that could’ve happened. (I’m going on too long but…)
My dad Paul (recent volunteer dad not biological which makes it all the sweeter) suggested I start a small construction project in the backyard. I began to sketch and dream a little house, 11×11 where I could hide. I measured and sawed and dry walled and shingled and failed many times but redirected and found solutions and Paul helped me when I was stuck, clueless and exhausted. It’s now a lovely apothecary where I hope next year to launch a small business offering tinctures, teas and balms made from local plants. The actors life had become so fleeting, evasive, and intangible that using my hands to build something solid was just the metaphor to literalize and pull me out of my funk. And it led to other creative pops. I got involved with the community garden planning, which led to learning about wild plants in my area and how to use them. I asked many (probably irritating) questions of the locals and met other rural based artists around me. I even got so inspired by the overwhelming lilac scent this spring that I attempted making lilac wine (with moderate success) I got to watch a full change of seasons, learned my neighbors stories, got roped into an epic dnd campaign, helped write and produce some of my friends projects and counsel others who were doing what I thought I wanted but were totally overwhelmed by their workload. By being excluded from one community in Manhattan (that I had worked so long to be a part of and placed so much value on) I was free to be embraced in another community with different but no less valuable resources. I reframed my desire to be chosen or win in a traditional capitalistic format, because money and fame (while very handy)does not an artist make. Whether you’re managing a multi million dollar film or scrubbing a floor (I could go on about what an art there is to this) your creativity is a radical gift that cannot be stripped from you. Being an artist is not a profession or a job it’s a RIGHT. And I was so lucky to get to diversify my portfolio and perspective during this period, it’s offered me quiet resilience and a lot of joy.

Lessons are downloading constantly but some decent ones are :
never trust the way things look they are always developing,
there’s value in almost anything if you look deep enough,
comparison will take you down a dark path, travel at your own risk,

The only true barometer for success is your own standard of excellence (how we do things is how we do things)

LISTEN A LOT especially if you feel a resistance to, your next creative wind could be on the breath of a monotonous train announcement or a parents criticism

And someone right now needs what you think isn’t worth offering

To answer what I’m excited about I’d say taking preliminary steps toward my long time dream of developing a small residency upstate to offer artists of different disciplines time and space and a home to develop their work. I’m currently working on a play about the unglamorous and irreverent lives of nannies, a musical version of psyche and amor and a collection of short stories inspired by my time growing up in Florida. Soon I’ll be onstage again, behind the camera, collaborating and generating in full swing but I’m grateful to know who I am as an artist in the valleys as much as the peaks.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m in the country mostly scrambling up waterfalls and hiking but when in the city I always hit cafe du soleil for their grilled sardines, stroll through greenwood cemetary to look for parrots, and see some comedy on MacDougal street

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Gosh my whole community! My family in West Fulton including Cornelia McGiver with Panther Creek Arts and Marika Hughes with Looking Glass Arts. The brilliant ML Geiger. My long suffering genius friends Caitlin Gaspar, Erika Leonard, Ryan Vasquez and Annelise Baker. My former classmates and educators at Juilliard (especially Deborah Hecht) and my mother who is radically reshaping groups of 5th graders every year. I would’ve quit a million times without them and learn from their courageous pursuits every day!

Instagram: Piper_Planes

Soundcloud: Piper Rae Patterson

Other: Piperraepatterson@gmail.com

Image Credits
Stan Demidoff