Patricia Joy Dobson (b. 1947, Sacramento, California) is known for her trompe l’oeil still life oil paintings featuring Native American pottery. Her highly realistic works are characterized by distinctive shadow and surface effects that evoke the aged, time-worn quality of traditional pottery. She works from both photographs and carefully arranged physical objects. Patricia Joy Dobson studied art at Foothill College in California and worked as an electrocardiograph technician while painting in her spare time. Her interest in history and the Southwest began during summers spent in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where she was drawn to the region’s smells, colors, and textures. After relocating to Scottsdale, Arizona in the mid-1980s, she began focusing on Native American themes, particularly Southwestern pottery.