For the making of a silkscreen, Pat uses water-based inks which are non-toxic. She starts by painting single-color brush strokes onto a piece of mylar which is then placed on a screen which has been coated with a liquid emulsion. The emulsion is then exposed to light which causes it to harden except where Pat's brush strokes protect the screen from the effects of the light. When the mylar is removed, the screen is washed. The areas of the hardened emulsion remain intact; but, where the brush strokes were placed, the emulsion dissolves, leaving open the mesh of the screen. The screen is placed over the print paper and the ink, which has been mixed to the chosen color, is forced through the open mesh of the screen, creating on the paper the image of the brush strokes.

This process is repeated time and again for each of the areas of different color Pat uses in creating the image. With each application of the ink, decisions are made as to color, bearing in mind the effects of placing a color on top of another that already exists on the print.

Some of Pat's silkscreens involve over one hundred separate applications of color. When printing an edition, each of the colors is applied to the whole edition in turn, building color upon color.