Patricia Altschul (b.1958) is a painter whose figurative works explore memory, solitude and the passage of time. Born in Hempstead, New York, she grew up in Palo Alto, California, and now lives and works in Sacramento. Altschul earned a B.A. in 1980 and M.F.A. in 1982 from the University of California, Davis. Her paintings often begin with photographs and drawings that she transforms through memory, using the human figure to suggest narratives that extend beyond a particular moment. In 1981, while a graduate student, Altschul worked as a research assistant and instructor on a USAID project in Togo, West Africa. She later taught at American River College in Sacramento from 1989 to 2000.