About Patrick
Born in Oklahoma in 1945, Dougherty was raised in North Carolina. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina in 1967 and an M.A. in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Iowa in 1969. Later, he returned to the University of North Carolina to study art history and sculpture.
Combining his carpentry skills with his love of nature, Patrick began to learn more about primitive techniques of building and to experiment with tree saplings as construction material. In 1982 his first work, Maple Body Wrap, was included in the North Carolina Biennial Artists’ Exhibition, sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of Art. In the following year, he had his first one-person show entitled, Waitin’ It Out in Maple at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
His work quickly evolved from single pieces on conventional pedestals to monumental scale environmental works, which required saplings by the truckloads. Over the last forty-some years, he has built over 330 of these large-scale works, and become internationally acclaimed. His sculpture has been seen worldwide---from Scotland to Japan to Brussels, and all over the United States.
Patrick has now retired from large-scale on-site installations and is working in his studio at home in North Carolina. In addition to creating smaller scale Stickworks there, he has partnered with Sam at his homestead to build a wood-fired kiln, launching Sam’s ceramics career.
About Sam
Sam was Patrick’s full-time construction assistant from 2016 until 2023, and developed into an expert stickworker. His signature can be found on every sculpture, especially in the rolled top edges.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Sam Dougherty earned his bachelor’s degree from Warren Wilson College with ceramics as his special interest. He is an avid gardener and tree lover and is currently establishing a homestead in Stokes County, NC. His renovation of the old farmhouse and outbuildings relies heavily on lumber cut and milled on Patrick’s Chapel Hill acreage. Most recently, Sam is at work applying his artistry to ceramics, using the wood-fired kiln he designed and built. His pottery can be seen at the North Carolina Museum of Art gift shop and on his website samdoughertypottery.com
