Rob Patterson grew up on the summit of Paris Mountain, overlooking the city of Greenville, South Carolina. As a child, the majority of his free time consisted of reading, drawing monsters, and exploring the woods that surrounded both his home and remote parts of the Nantahala National Forest, experiences that were instrumental in shaping his imagination. Also key in his development was enduring attendance at a nearby christian educational facility. During this time, his parents encouraged him to pursue his burgeoning interest in the arts. As his talent developed, he took classes at the local colleges, technical institute, and art museum. Upon concluding eleven psychologically grueling years of indoctrination and “schooling” at said institution, he spent his final three years of high school joyously immersed in the study of visual arts at the Greenville Fine Arts Center. There, he explored metal sculpture, film and video, ceramics, photography, and creative writing, but was centrally focused on drawing and painting. In 1999, he received a BFA in Digital Fine Art from the Atlanta College of Art, where he worked in graphic design, experimental sound, installation art, and multimedia digital art.

In the autumn of that same year, through the University of Georgia, he spent a semester in Cortona, Italy, studying intaglio and photography as a graduate student. The mystical antiquity of the Italian countryside was an unexpected revelation for him. While there, Rob had the good fortune to meet and befriend world-renowned painter Terry Rowlett, with whom he explored the art-steeped villages and lush landscapes of Tuscany. The semester came to an end, however, and with heavy heart, he left Italy's gentle foothills and returned to the mundane avenues of Greenville.

Back in his home town, inspiration was scant and his thoughts often turned to his days in Cortona. Fortunately, Mr. Rowlett lived nearby in Athens, Georgia. Rob spent many weekends visiting Terry and found new inspiration in the second incarnation of Athens’ thriving music scene, buoyed by the Elephant 6 Collective. Still, he felt largely unmoved to create new work, and weighed down by the conservative tedium of the cultural climate of the day. After four years in creative limbo, he found himself in Nashville, Tennessee, where his love of illustration and art was rekindled. From there, he followed his future wife to Chicago, where he found work as an artist, illustrator, and graphic designer. After working to re-invigorate Chicago’s world-famous Intelligentsia Coffee for 4.5 years, his graphic design pursuits led him away to explore several freelance projects (notably with Rishi Tea, Morton Salt, and Mahlkönig) and eventually back to a new in-house design position.

In 2019, Rob began working for cannabis behemoth Green Thumb Industries as an in-house Senior Graphic Designer. He began his career there as the designer for Green Thumb’s RISE chain of dispensaries, helping expand the footprint from 5 to 12 states, as well as expanding on the mission and aesthetic. He helped to co-create and was the designer and re-brander of the &Shine Cannabis line. &Shine was initially a budget house brand for RISE, but has since grown to become the powerhouse of the company. It offers an easy entry point for new consumers as well as quality and reliability at a palatable price point for longtime fans, and an experimental platform for new forms of cannabis consumables. Rob also did some design work and art direction for Dogwalkers, a lifestyle-focused pre-roll brand, before &Shine became his full-time focus.

Recently, Rob has left Green thumb to pursue his own endeavors in promotion of Berkshire County and the surrounding area. Rob and his family moved to a valley town in the Berkshire mountains in late 2021, where he is on the Adams Arts Advisory Board, serves as a Town Meeting Member, and briefly helmed a floating music venue called The Dusk Chapel.