PERFORMANCE ART RACE-CAR ARTIST OFTEN DRAWS A CROWD.

Byline: Andrea Cavanaugh Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - It wasn't enough for Simi Valley artist Bill Patterson to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a professional artist - he turned the process of painting into its own art form.

Patterson, 50, performs for crowds at Formula 1 races and other events, producing large canvases in about 20 minutes that capture the excitement of auto racing. He is performing at 11:45 a.m. today at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, capping a four-day run.

``It's fun to watch,'' said Ed Nicholls, a spokesman for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, where Patterson has been named the raceway's official artist.

``It's very abstract at first, then you start to see the image come into focus,'' Nicholls said. ``To see it develop, it's like watching something grow.''

Patterson has performed at numerous charity benefits, with the finished paintings selling at auction for up to $40,000.

A painting Patterson produced at a retirement party in May for racer Michael Andretti raised $32,000 for charity, said Paula Prime, executive director of the Michael Andretti Foundation.

``It's wonderful,'' Prime said of Patterson's performances. ``It's an art piece but it's also entertainment.''

Although he has been sketching and drawing since he was 3 years old, Patterson abandoned his career goal of being a professional artist and became an architect at the behest of his father, an engineer.

``He wanted me to be an engineer, and I wanted to be an artist, so we compromised,'' Patterson said.

He worked as an architect for 10 years before pursuing painting full time about 15 years ago.

Patterson, whose father's career as an engineer took the family around the world, first became enchanted with race cars at a race in Buenos Aires when he was 13.

``I saw that first car go around that first corner, and I got it,'' Patterson said. ``I understood the basic physics at work.''

Although many artists paint race cars, Patterson saw none that captured the magic he experienced at that first race, he said.

``I didn't see anyone painting speed, I didn't see anyone painting passion, I didn't see anyone painting emotion,'' Patterson said.

``I want to communicate some passion about what's happening on the racetrack.''

Although he struggled as an artist for years, Patterson has gained a strong following among racing aficionados for the accuracy and realism of his paintings, Nicholls said.

``His eye for detail is phenomenal,'' Nicholls said. ``Car racing people are so particular. It gives him so much credibility in the racing community.''

On the Net: www.billpattersonart.com.

Andrea Cavanaugh, [phone]

andrea.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- color) Simi Valley artist Bill Patterson, seen here with one of his 5-by-7 paintings, titled ``Rosso,'' has turned the process of painting into its own art form. He will be ``performing'' at 11:45 a.m. today at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, capping a four-day run.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) ``Long Beach 30'' is one of Bill Patterson's race-oriented paintings. Patterson has ``performed'' at charity benefits, with his finished pieces selling at auction for up to $40,000.