Patrick Howe graduated from the Pacific Northwest College of Art with a BFA in 1974 and received two fellowships for outstanding work. He later served as Head Preparator at the Portland Art Museum, where he installed exhibitions across more than twenty galleries. Before becoming a full-time artist, he also worked as an award-winning freelance graphic designer for Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Safeco, Eddie Bauer, Nordstrom, REI, Macy’s, Weyerhaeuser, Nintendo, Providence Hospital, and Boeing.

He received multiple grants from the Oregon Arts Commission to create artwork for the state, and he conducted many workshops and residencies for the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities. His paintings have been included in two juried exhibitions at the Portland Art Museum, and he had a one-person exhibition at the Loveland Art Museum in Colorado. One year he received the Best Artist award at the Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair and has been an award winner at the Eastside Fine Art Association Annual Show. In 2025, he served as a judge for the Washington State Fair Art Exhibition. He also had a 50-painting one-person retrospective exhibition at Axis Gallery in Seattle.

Howe founded the Emerald City Art Collective and served as its director for 21 years. He has exhibited in more than 50 galleries, and his work is held in private and corporate collections. From 2004 to 2014, he owned and operated Patrick Howe Gallery in Seattle.

He has taught hundreds of students how to paint in oils and currently lives and teaches painting in Seattle.