Art, Nature & Soul #86

We were in Key West Florida earlier this year, our third time. When we came upon this area at Fort Zachary Taylor. It was a corner where the fort and beach areas merged. What a great find. My first thoughts seeing the people swimming around and playing on the rocks was, Henry Tuke Scott, I must paint this. Later I thought Turner. We hung out, for half the day, and I took a dozen or so photo captured references, to give it the Sperry treatment, at a later time.

The scene before me was playful and romantic. A beautiful sunny day, boats saling, birds flying & boys swimming, posing & playing on the rocks, as if nothing else exists, lost in their own world. Thinking our a composition, I used about 6 of the photos to create and give direction. the beach umbrella, the palms, the sailboat & pelicans, pointed the direction to the main show and focal point. Once the compositions in my head, I’m ready to go.

My process generally begins with a complimentery color tonal splash, acrylic base coat. Sometimes I do a compositional sketch, as was the case here. Then I work very quickly, working wet in wet to block in the scene, beginning with the sky, building and moving it forward to the areas of interest. I tend towards painting in a more painterly imressionistic way as opposed to an illustrated one. The figures on the rocks suggest a posture & pose without revealing much else. That’s so you can fill in the blanks and put yourself there, as intended. More than a voyear you are now a participant and putting yourself there with those you want to be there with.

I usually take a photo of the pieces I’m wotking on to access them from another perspective. Then if I need to enhance this that or the other thing I usually do the next day or two. Most are completed wet in wet in a single sitting though. I left the figures more none descript accept for the playful joyous poses that were happening, so you the audience, can put yourself in the scene.

I went a little more primitive and post impressionist in this piece to create a more whimsicle take in which I Am, & We Are and everyones included.

Thank you, as always your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

Boys on the Rocks 40”x30” oil

progressions

ono of my photo captures in Key West

Art, Nature & Soul #85

A lot of times, the best, most important & relevant art speaks to the times in which we & it was created, in some way, shape or form. Over the past decade or so I've noticed both the emergence of newer artists, plus a resurgence of some old being reintroduced into the current mainstream culture addressing theses things, politics, climate change, COVID/vaccines, gender identity, sexuality & more.

We're involved in the art scene so we attend a fair amount of related events & happenings. One that stands out is the Lumineers concert several years ago when they and the 2 other opening bands performed Leonards Cohen's DEMOCRACY together on stage. As our country has been significantly under siege since  2015, it was relevant, poignant & a moving call to action, as in vote, plus some. Since then I've been more observant & aware. We saw Muse, Will of the People Tour, Arcade Fire, WE concert, TearsFor Fears, TURNING POINT & The Decemberists ARISE FROM THE BUNKERS, all which were speaking to the issues at hand directly. Others were just going about their business incorporating the messages more subtely into their setlist, Sam Smith Gloria, Pet Shop Boys HOTSPOT, Iggy Pop EVERY LOSER & New Order’s 13 tract variations of BE A REBEL, concerts & cd's to name a few. Within theater, White Plague & 1776, seemed to be trying to reach out and send a new message to the audiences The Joffrey ballet's FRANKENSTEIN, and opera, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ALAN TURNING and most recently Sufjan Stevans ILLINOISE seem to be changing things up to be inclusive and show some deeper thoughts on being human. Exhibits at the Art Institute Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art as well as some special exhibit venues that also were geared to show the possibilities of human life on planet earth. One such was Warhol at College of DuPage, Illinois, another THE FIRST HOMOSEXUALS at Wrightwood 659, that has a follow up in 2025. And many others, but these were some memorable highlights.

Toward the very end of 2023 we saw Patti Smith at the Salt Shed, Chicago. Ever the consummate rebel & activist, her encore was PEOPLE HAVE the POWER and the crowd was feeling it. I had taken several photos of the outside & inside of the venue, with her and the people in attendance. For this piece I wanted to show the outside of the venue and the hoodied crowd waiting to get in. There was a couple standing directly in front of us, inside, that reminded me of Don and myslf when we were in our 20’s, fearless, but practical. Similiar biulds, I had long wavy blonde hair & Don had shorter brown, then,as well. The 2 guys in their mid 20’s, holding hands, with their arms around each other who would occasionally kiss, so I put them front & center in the composition then added Patti Smith performing, People Have the Power. The hooded people representing those hidden, who feel they need to hide, inpart ( because of their color, religion, sexuality, gender identity, etc.) waiting to get into a safe space to just be who they are, without fear of reprisals and the 2 guys representing the fearlessness of some while Patti encourages our right to be free, to be who we are and whatever we want, echoeing that we have the power to make it so. The bilding itself I added some symbolic graffitti too. Yes, this was the message I want to bring out and I've conveyed it in one my more contemporary compositions in mixed media. 

Earlier this year, 2024, I spoke to another peer artist about putting an exhibit together addressing the current political climate and issures at hand. I messaged him stating we could have a call for entries and have the artists interpret the theme "Democracy" and then elaborated on some details of the when & where. Guess we’ll see if enough people have the courage to motivate and show their power before it’s to late. Make your voice heard, make your vote known, be the change you want to see in the world, its that simply.

As always your comments & questions are welcome,

Richard

PEOPLE Have the Power 24”x36” mixed media

Art, Nature & Soul #84

I recently posted this on one of my social media pages.

“I was asked to describe my artwork in 3 words for an upcoming art magazine feature in March. I did, but I wondered how you would?”

My answer to ‘Circle Foundation For the Arts’ was simply, “chronology of happenings”, as I paint my life, as it unfolds, in whatever form it takes.

I knew that the question, as posed, that some would interupt it as me asking them to find 3 words they would use to describe my artwork with, while others still, perhap’s artists, would answer it as if to describe their own artwork. The post received a really great response, one very thoughtful & intuitive response about my work, was from MaryEllen B. “this is a hard one … i keep going to art phrases … like impressionist but more. I got thinking deconstructive impressionist abstract. there!” Another was somewhat more ambiguous, as to whether he was speaking to my art or his, although the intention seemed clear, the double edged sword, when he wrote, “Better than yours!” Marvin M., to which all I could do was lol and click on the laughing emoji. He was a portrait artist, by profession, pretty standard quality photo realism from what I observed.

In any case I had several thoughts.

First and foremost, I do not compete with others, only myself, for my individual vision & personal best. Secondly, having and being a positive supportive voice to others, including creatives, in this world, is a rare and important thing, I choose to be.

Then I had this thought. That’s like saying English is better than French, Spanish, German or Italian, etc. Or even more so, that petroglyphs are better than hieroglyphs, or more aptly that English is better than petroglyphs, which makes no sense. As we are all speaking in different visual languages, as artists, to begin with. Communication is usually directed to a certain audience, with hopes of reaching others outside ones group.

Personaly I seldom think in terms of good & bad, better or worse, except when I’m gaging the direction of my own prolific output. I do have my likes, but having spent, near 40 years, selling other artists work to a large audience with varied taste and range of clients, I understand this one very important thing. There’s an audience for most all art and the degree of success with any of it, for any artist, like life, has more variables than can be counted on both hands.

Importantly, being open to and having an appreciation for things in their context, super cool, by my standards. Asking questions and taking the time to learn, know & understand anothers capabilities & chosen direction is a unique, rare and beautiful thing, that can open up ones world plus provide an appreciation.

As I’ve indicated and spoken to many times, as a child and young man, my primary interests were in cartoon & portrait work, which I did. From doodling cartoons in ink pen of myself, friends & teachers to doing more realistic portratis in pencil, pen & ink and soft-pastel, some of which were commissioned and sold. As I grew as a person and artist I began to want and lean to the more impressionistic, expressionistic & abstract. While I still do portrait commissions, they have a definate slant to these above disciplines, as well as my own vision of the person or persons personality.

Here’s a self portrait I painted about 35 years ago. I was and am a huge Universal monster & Hammer film fan. So, I took a photo of myself and morphed it with Frankenstien, Dracula & the Wolfman. While it’s not perfect. It’s not bad for a primarily self taught artist. What a great time I had painting this one. It’s in oil, on fine portrait linen & in an old ornate Gothic frame. It still hangs in my home studio, really, sincerely, yes indeed, it does. Here’s another from this time period I painted of a friend, around the same time, as well.

Which should illustrate that how I currently choose to express myself is based on an acumulation of infromation, knowledge & experience gathered, honed & refined.

As always your comments & questions are welcome,

Thanks Richard

Self Portrait, 11”x14” oil on line, in a ornate Gothic frame circa 1989ish

‘Boy Blue Jeans’ 40”x30” oil (1988-89)

Art, Nature & Soul #83

I’ve been asked to and been doing commissioned artwork since high school. They are always an interesting challenge. Fusing a clients idea, with what you do and a shared vision.

In early December 2023 I received this message.

Here is the picture we have.  Obviously not ideal, but gives you, the artist, a perspective of what we are trying to accomplish. He was very interested in the harvest, crops, and the harvest moon, so any combination of those ideas may work. Thanks again for your help here.

Regards,

Adam G.

The man in the photo had recently passed and he, a friend of the family, was wanting to memorialize his love, life and loss, for his good friend and the surving wife in a small painting. He had a budget and I felt I could accomodate his goal.

The photo gave verty little to work with, accept for an approximation of the couple on their front porch. That in combination with the brief message of what his life loves were and it being near the holidays gave me an idea. So I went to work to recreate a joyous shared moment between the two, probably one of many, many, similar ones.

We’re in Illinois, so a red barn and corn silo were decided on, along with a a John Deer tractor, the harvest moon and sitting the two a little closer together. We can imagine they’re perhap’s, holding hands. I was wanting to keep it a bit lighter to capture a joyous moment,as the reason for creating the image was already a somber one. So a light & happy rendition of the 2 in vivid colors, all a texture and caricature was created. I entitled it ‘Lasso the Moon’, being the holidays, after a scene in the James Stewart/ Donna Reed film, directed by Frank Capra, “It’s a Wonderful Life” I felt with the age of the couple she would be able to relate to the sentiment.

The person who commissioned the work has picked it up, but not given it it yet to his friend. So stay tuned, he was excited about it and intends to send me some a reaction info that I’ll post on my various social media outlewts, as well as here.

Thanks for support

as always your thoughts & comments are welcome,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #82

The creating of art, has been a wonderful & wild journey that I’ve been on, a lifetime. It’s been a total immersion, from Mrs. Clark, my grade school art & music teacher, to the picture-lady, bringing examples of the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection, to the evolution of where I now find myself.

Mrs. Clark was always so organic & natural, unforced in her viewpoint & expression. I was in awe and bliss with most everything the picture lady showed us, such unbridled creativity, showing a wide variety of what art was. In middle school I was fascinated by DaVinci, Michelangelo & Rembrandt. Those renaissance artists blew my mind, with their more realistic renditions, using the sfumato technique, etc. By the time I was leaving middle school and entering high school I was hooked on Dali. Throughout H.S. and early college, my artwork, with the exception of some cartoon characters I drew & portrait commissions I did in pastel, leaned heavily into the surreal and fantastical into my early 20’s. About that time I discovered my love of Van Gogh & Pollack. This more emotive expression took firm hold and it’s where I’ve been ever since, learning, building & refining along the way.

Like I’ve said many times before, “I paint my life”. Which for me, means whatever’s going on, I feel compelled to express it, in paint, the way I’m experiencing it. Always wanting it to be organic , natural, & fluid, as I’m not a fan of overthought, forced or static artworks. Once the idea is visualized in my head, I go to work very quickly, as much of the time & work happens in my head before I even put paint to canvas. Sometimes people ask how long did that take you to paint. If I where to be asked today my answer would be 59 years, 7 months, and 3 day, my age. Creating art is an accumulation of experience and one’s personnel refined technique & vision. In fairness to the question though, the more representational are created in a matter of hours, going back to tweak areas briefly the next day or so & the more abstract & contemporary pieces I do, usually take weeks & weeks, some a couple months to build, as they are mixed media configurations. Still each layer is done quickly, after I look and an assessment has been made and I’ve decided on where I’m going next. My creative process relies heavily on me allowing these expressions to flow spontaneously, once engaged.

Which brings us here, near today, but let me back up just a bit. The Modern Wing at the Art Institute Chicago Opened May 16, 2009. A large space on the 1st floor was dedicated to a major exhibition of Cy Twombly’s artwork. I was unfamiliar with his work to that time, but upon first seeing it, I air hugged it, as a kindred spirit was discovered. At the time was doing more drip & splatter work in acrylic, trying to hone a vision. It was bliss, utter joy to see the freedom he allowed himself in his expressions and with this realization it so set me, to allow myself greater freedom and a vision, a fusion of ideas I’ve been working toward ever since.

While I love doing the variety of artworks I do. I wouldn’t do them if I didn’t. While there’s other’s as well, these particular mixed-media pieces I’ve assembled here on this page/blog are some of those artworks closest to that vision. They are the accumulation of near 60 years of growth as a person and painter. They represent my most intimate & personnel autobiographical expressions. Each are built and created with an acrylic paint base, then layering, adding & erasing, with oil paint, oil pastel, ebony pencil, charcoal, oil stick & 18k gold paint & leaf. The 18k leaf & an infinity symbol can be found on all of these artworks, a signature… trademark of sorts.

Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes 40”x40” mixed media on canvas (the artwork in the lower left of the collage) was awarded, ‘Artistic Excellence’ earlier this year from the Circle Foundation for the Arts, in March 2023 & then in May 2023, featured as “relevant” in the Artist Closeup,-an international contemporary art magazine out of Amsterdam. I participated in several exhibitions in which I was juried into, and was lucky enough to be asked to do 4 commissions. Besides these wonderful things, I’m most grateful for my liker’s, patrons & collector’s feedback & support. My life choices & route have been of a more atypical & unexpected happening, and yet I feel like I’m making my kind of music, my kind of art as it, my life, has unfolded, in time, on schedule and couldn’t have any other way.

Your enthusiasm is appreciated, as always your thoughts & questions are welcome, Thank you Richard

Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes

Art, Nature & Soul #81

Today, this Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 2023 marks the 46th year of my brother Rodney’s departure from this life. He would have been 50 years old this past November 1, all saints day. I was age 13 at this time, just barely a teenager in 8th grade and his loss was profound and devasting. But, don’t run-a-way quite yet, for this is more than a story of grief, its also a story of triumph and the influences, the fleeting moments of our lives that define us, compel us, direct us toward the pathways of our lives.

The past several years, there’s been an inordinate amount of emotional turmoil and triggers, causing me to say out loud on more then a few occasions, “This is what my childhood was like and it never stopped.” In recent years , in counselling I discovered that I have and suffer from PTSD for most of my life…Well talk about triggers, yes indeed. But, again, I’ll save those details and story for another time. Perhaps, if not likely in an autobiography posthumously. But, today, this story is about a lifetime of me discovering the healing powers of the arts, whether it be music, poetry, writing, dance, theater, sculpting, painting or other artistic outlets out there. Create, it’s a choice.

As I’ve already said, Rodney’s passing hit me hard as I was just a child myself. Over the past months I’ve had reason & occasion to be reconnected with family memorabilia from my past, most of which I hadn’t seen and some hadn’t remembered in over 35 years. There were stacks and stacks of photo albums, a drawing I had done in 78’ and given my mother in 79’, a grandparents, Sperry family Bible that had recorded the births & deaths of family members. Plus other assorted odds and ends…dads coin collections, mom’s rose pattern fine China that served family & friends, at grand parties & events, for decades upon decades. Yes, indeed, it was overwhelming as the memories came flooding back.

As if the family Bible wasn’t enough, marking Rodney’s, birth & death dates. The photos, yes, there he was like memories, validated. Memories & photographs come to life. Sometimes I find myself talking about my brother in memory flashes. One such is where I’m holding him, helping him pet our childhood pup Hardy. It always made Rodney smile & giggle, and there it was a photo, not 1 but 2 taken a year and a half apart showing this strong joyous memory, verified. Then another I hadn’t remembered at all, me at 11 or 12 years old , holding my brother about 3, on my shoulders. Well yes, it brought more then a few tears to my eyes as I acknowledged, yes this is exactly how I felt, now as then, about Rodney, ‘he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother’…The photos went on and on and I saw Rodney being held and loved by family members & friends, when I see and think, ‘Everybody loved Rodney’. Then my sisters says, ”Don’t cry,” as she pulls a drawing I drew of him, when I was 13-14 years old, and about a year after his passing then gave to my mother, one Valentines Day thereafter. The drawing was all eyes to brain to hand…no grids or mechanical methods were used to reproduce his likeness from the photograph, just a sketch pad piece of paper & a HB pencil, plus my early artistic license & emotion are added, to capture & convey his essence & my love for my brother

So, it’s with this discovery that my story ends and begins. In my grief, I tried to funnel my feelings into a creative expression. Of course, at the time I had no idea that was what I was doing, but in hindsight, I see and realize I had been trying to do that prior to this occasion and all along. (*when my sister, Baby Diane had passed on, at 4 months of age, me about 5 and remember clearly, then soon after in a grade school classroom art project, we were to make an Easter basket out of colored construction paper and put your family names on the eggs. I of course added Diane posthumously.) I’ve come to understand and the realization that we never get over the grief of losing a loved one. We merely learn to live with it and hopefully put it in a treasured place where the love is protected and if we’re able, to turn it into an expression of that love to be given freely to other’s. I’ve repeatedly stated to most when asked and speaking about my artwork, that its emotive based & therapeutic for me. As an adult and recently, when, what felt and enormous stress, planned and started the day by doing an abstract artwork, to workout some of my emotions out on canvas, knowing fully it would help, it did for that day, maybe several others afterward. Like I’ve stated & written, my artwork is an autobiographical, a chronology of happenings. Apparently I need lots of therapy, ha.

I remember Rodney R. Sperry, born 11-1-73 - passed 11-23-77:

My brother had Cerebral Palsy and some other physical challenges. Having lots of friends & a large extended family, growing up it seemed that he brought out the best in people and that we were always surrounded by family, friends with an unwavering love. His smile lit up the world, mine for sure, still does.

Today I'm grateful he was part of my life and for all the lessons he taught me in his short time here on earth. I’m also, thankful for all the people and lives that have been in mine, hope they all know how very much they mean to me & that they are loved, more so, that they are part of my thoughts, heart, & artistic expressions, always.

And lets face it, like Harvey Fierstien, as Arnold said in Torch Song Trilogy,” It's easier to love someone who's dead. They make so few mistakes.”

(*With these things in mind, I also immerse myself in many of the other arts and feel strongly that it needs to be advocated for and implemented in our schools if for no other reason but to help people balance their lives out with a constructive creative emotional outlet, in the context of life’s harsh realities.)

Thankful for you & grateful for the shared fleeting moments that we move through each others lives.

As always your thoughts & questions are welcome,

Richard

Rodney Sperry, my brother

HEROES, just for one day. Brothers

Art, Nature & Soul #80

On Gratitude & Dreams~ From the young age of 6 I knew that I wanted, needed to create art. I was the more quiet , more reserved kid in the room, always observing the situ. As I’ve mentioned time and time again, lol, my childhood & family life was of a more turbulent & tragic happening, in a great many ways, more then most. Creating became an escape, a therapy of sorts. Focusing on being a child, growing up and creating a path toward being an artist was not without its challenges, detours, pratfalls & road stops. But the arts are what have always been my path, my interests, my soul, & unquenchable thirst for expressing my being. So its in a most scenic, if not circuitous route I’ve found myself here, with you all, doing it my way. As a road trip kinds of guy, I’d lend this metaphor with a hardy bit of sentiment & love. It’s about the journey, not only the destination, and what sights I’ve seen. Thank you all for sharing some of it with me and allowing me, my artworks into your homes.

It’s a truly wonderful thing to see the artworks I have created in their new homes. I always feel like we have a deeper connection with these persons, as if to say, “I get you”, yes we understand each other. I am more grateful for these people then mere words can actually convey, for it is because of you and your continued support that I am able to strive to live on this childhood dream & be my best self.

From commissioned artworks, to completed abstracts, landscapes & figurative works, they find homes in spaces from big corporate offices of Chicago & business’s, to focal mantel, over the sofa pieces and other showcase places from intimate hall spaces, children’s bedrooms, window rooms, dining rooms & the music room, mancaves, in art lovers & collectors homes, all across America.

My creative spirit & energies turned art, nature & soul having found a small place in the life of others, speaking to them at some level, a connection, a relationship, a continuity. This is my inspiration, a shared vision that feeds my imagination.

And so I leave you with these two thoughts from 2 of my favorite American thinkers, writers. The first one, the 1st two sentences, are inscribed in a cuff I wear on my wrist.

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.”

―Henry David Thoreau

People only see what they are prepared to see. If you look for what is good and what you can be grateful for you will find it everywhere.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here’s a small selection of some of my creations in their new homes. As always your question, comments & thoughts are welcome.

Feeling grateful for you. Thank you, for your continued support & helping me to follow my dream. Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #79

I do a fair amount of what I call color studies, mostly in a square format. It’s a place where I allow myself to play with all the design elements…

contrast, balance, emphasis, proportion, hierarchy, repetition, rhythm, pattern, white space, movement, variety, and unity & the more obvious space, line, form, color, and texture.

I do not usually put them on my website except for the occasional blog, to illustrate an idea. Sometimes they’re plein air, other times from a photo, memory or my imagination. It gives my a place to try out a new technique as I’ve mentioned before I strive for a more organic vision & typically avoid a more static or contrived patterns.

Mostly these stand on their own, as completed works, that said, they’re also sometimes studies for larger artworks. They can serve as gateway purchases for the new collectors, although I’ve also had a customer do a 4 seasons composition of more local themed pieces. They also make wonderful accent pieces that can be hung or set on a bookshelf easel. However they move you, I hope its to a happy place, a memory or a place you’d like to be.

~Richard

A selection of 10”x10” & 12”x12” from 2023

Art, Nature & Soul #78

 It took me years & years of artistic self-discovery before I figured out I needed to be in the zone to produce consistently, in order to maintain the quality in the body of my artwork. Achieving that is about staying in the groove or zone and painting as much as possible. It sounds like a rather simple concept, but it’s easier said than done, if life demands, thus requires our attention in other areas. I’m a whole person, a real boy, with many commitments & responsibilities...always having & working a full time day job or 2 along the way. I've often wondered how different my art would have developed if I had the majority of my time to focus on it. But alas here we are as life is unfolding on schedule, & me without regret.

As a child I’d draw, lost in my creative world of make believe. It was a wonderful escape from the trials of daily life, that was full of constant turmoil, emotional pain & trauma. Art became a therapy of sorts for a child trying to cope with the drama of everyday life in my home, growing up. Late in life, in my 50’s, a counselor noted I suffered from PTSD. In my head, I thought, “don’t we all?” Truth is there are many people that do not grow with the trials & tribulations that I have. That said, in any case, I’d get in the zone, but could never stay there long as another family drama was unfolding, beckoning my attentions there, derailed yet again by emotion and drama that demanded my attention. While it’s true, I’m a sensitive person, focusing on art on a regular basis was nearly impossible, as I’d become melancholia and withdrawn. 

I have known who I was and what I wanted to be from a fairly young age. I’d say 7ish.  We all have different life struggles, approaches & routes. Some of us with more support and opportunity than others. Within my striving to become my best self, I’ve taken a more scenic, lest I say circuitous route. 
At age six, I did a drawing of a leprechaun. It was entered in a grade school competition and won first place, lucky me! I was hooked! I spent most of grade school in park district art classes as provided by the school and my parents. Throughout middle and high school Art classes were my primary electives for personal expression. I had wanted to go to S.A.I.C. after high school, but it was not to be. I chose the road less traveled...it was quite bumpy and a great life education, real experience, a thing you cannot get from a book, although not nearly as safe.

In my early twenties I was manager of a art supply, custom framing and home decorating store. Here I developed an eye for color as I had to mix house paint according to a customer’s needs, without aid of a computer, excellent! I continued experimenting with all the various art materials and developed some techniques I still use today. Being a early twenty something year old, I decided to submit my work to an outsider art gallery in Chicago and was told they didn't really show this kind of work. My work at the time leaned into the surreal and figurative. I was devastated, they told me to come back in six months, six months turned into nearly twenty years before I would resubmit artwork for exhibition.                                                                              Interestingly I continued in the custom picture framing business which evolved into limited edition print sales and on to original art sales...after viewing the first 10,000. pieces you knew what was good and what was not, now that's an art education. Continuing my art dream I spent time at College of DuPage, Kishwakee jr. College, other various art classes and then sometime around my thirtieth birthday I attended... finally S.A.I.C. , Yay! Hoo-Rah! But continuing studies there was not to be, so sad... I continued to dabble but focused mainly on selling other people’s artwork, custom picture framing and interior decorating, hence my design-oriented skills.

Regular life and survival needs swept in and so the focus remained there until...2004. A trip to MDI Maine, third week of October, the word was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L, spoken more times than I care confess to. I was painting again and yet no single style was emerging as to be the dominate one I felt comfortable with enough to pursue as ME!

About a year later, a family loss. and out of that emerged some variation of the artwork I now create. The first six pieces I created during this time and the four afterward, were a huge success and sold. ( not ego, awestruck) Now feeling the call, a bit boxed in and drawn out with where I was in life, I needed to seek deeper fulfilment... to create and just do it, became my mantra. Having realized that the artwork I wanted to create was emotion based and expressionist in flavor I started to produce as much work as I humanly could, sometimes 5-10 pieces a week, just to get up to speed, pun intended.

Soon enough a body of work began to emerge and sell. So exhibiting became the mission and I did, all over from car washes (Strangely appropriate), art leagues, art fairs, local juried art shows, and local art galleries, including one in Chicago. Woot-Woot!...and a few out of state.
                                      They were selling and more importantly I had occasion to witness people gravitate to one of my works. In a group of 35 or so artist, yet they were drawn to one of mine. This was exciting and stranger was that the work seemed to have no age limitation in it's audience, as people from a young age to elderly folks seemed to relate to this work. Awesome!!! Still needing funds to continue on this path, a gallery was opened...and closed. Now the continuing art/life education had arrived at in full force. The pass/fail thing...quite scary but real!

So I now find myself still creating my signature works, custom framing, and doing the whole life thing- a 37 year long relationship, My family and friends, my companion pets(some variation throughout the years of dogs, cats, fish, tortoises), are most important to me and keep me centered.

Beyond this I enjoy reading, walking the dogs, traveling (a road trip kind of guy), music & concerts(extremely varied), a bit of a film addict, have in recent years been checking out contemporary opera's & I'll be going to my 1st ballet this fall and then there's more, much more, but you'll have to wait for the novel or follow me on social media, ha! 

So, drawing & painting daily or as often as possible keeps me in the best zone for consistency, learning and developing as an artist & human being. As an adult I’m keenly aware of these things about life & myself, intent on keeping focused on my art. Creating is a discipline, meaning that whatever your other commitments are, your artwork must rate high on the list and must be done. The more I'm able to create, the more I learn and better the quality.

 Briefly but importantly my values are in being authentic and keeping it real in all things... whatever that is and remember Peace in, Love out, keep the Hope going & have a little Faith in Yourself and each other! even when at times it seems near impossible to do so. Stand tall, carry a large brush and a larger canvas. Oh, yes one more thing, always make sure someone has got your back...for all those many times that you will fall, grateful that I do.

Peace, love & light Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #77

It doesn’t take much to inspire me to paint and translate my emotions into a visual. Sometimes a Fb friend posts something and I feel I must paint it. Sometimes from words, other times a photo

The Lower Falls at Yellowstone, as translated from a FB friends photo.

Al H

Beautiful! ...and somewhat erotic! I love it!

Me ~Al H interesting you say that. while I see the more obvious...early this year after the Dali exhibit...I had intended on doing a more surrealist piece entitled 'Gulliver posing in a sea of men' ...the more figurative & surrealist stuff I did in my teens & 20's...after months of reconsideration I decided to shelf it for now, as it's not really what I do these days...however I decided to incorporate it in to the falls in this piece..thank you.

I’ve been to most of the continental United States, however the northwest states have eluded my travels. I’ve always wanted to see Yellowstone and many of the other National Parks, but have yet to do the more grand ones. I’ve always liked the Albert Bierstadt and his more illustrated approach, near photographic paintings with atmosphere. When I saw a photo posted by an FB friend of the Lower Falls there, I was compelled to break out the paints and go to it my way.

It was a pretty dramatic scene in which I’d have to edit & enhance to create a more impressionistic take on the scene,, less branches on the edges and more rock platform in the foreground.. Once the image was in my head I went to work very quickly with brushes, palette knives, scratching tools & paint. What was transposed was more happy place where we the viewer are on the platform looking through the window made of branches. So here it is for your consideration…

I usually carry sketch pad and small painting panels when I travel , plus take lots of phot references for studio work. If you have a special place or moment in a photograph that you’d like translated into paint, message me, I love doing commissioned artworks too.

A Separate Peace 30”x40” oil on canvas

The Process~‘A Separate Peace’ 30”x40” oil

A Separate Peace 30”x40” oil on canvas

Art, Nature & Soul #76

PRIDE~ Creating figurative art, is one of my favorite subjects to explore. When I was in my teens & 20s, besides the occasional commissioned portrait work, they tended toward the more surreal as I figured out who & what it wanted to be as I grew up. Today I still play in that arena fusing figures with symbol & mythology from yester year, as well as the now & ones I’ve created. As I’ve recently written,

"I paint my life, as I experience it. I’m not merely an abstract painter or a land, sea or cityscape one or even a figurative one for that matter. The internal as well as the external mechanisms engage and compel me to paint my life, how I think, feel it, how I experience it and how I live it…my paintings are a diary, a catalogue and a chronology of happenings." ~Richard

Which is to say, my art is my therapy of sorts where I express my deepest & most intimate details of my life.

Early on it was apparent in hindsight that I was figuring out my sexuality, then screaming here “I AM”. While I’ve toned down the more, in your face, aspects of these type artworks. I still promote a untied world view where everyone’s equal, accepted & loved.

My husband Don & I have spent most of our lives, 37 years together, blending in with the community population in the burbs. We made this choice decades ago for a variety of reasons. Importantly, in living in the regular population rather than a more city LGBTQ colony. I thought it was an opportunity to show & share who we are as human beings to persons less familiar with same sex relationships. Our outness has varied over nearly 4 decades but we have never denied who we are. Growing up, my family & I lived next door to a lesbian couple, that became family friends over the many years. It seemed to me the best way to get people to get over there fear of things they didn’t understand was to show them that we, in many, if not most ways, live a similar life as you. Although some of our individual struggles may be different, LOVE IS LOVE. Currently, we’re wanting to do more for & be a support of the LGBTQ community as the climate of hate has been escalated here in the USA.

Each of these, plus innumerable others artworks are meant to show, whether , more realistic, abstract, contemporary, modern or impressionistic, my love of people & the various human conditions & the ambiguous nature of being.

As always your questions & comments are encouraged & welcome, Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #75

Over a month ago I was contacted to do a commissioned abstract. The client knew my work and gave the basic colors that he wanted to see. I set off doing what I do it the size he wanted 40”x60” vertical. I get asked to do commission work several times a year, sometimes landscape, other times figurative & every once and a while an abstract. Each are within my subject matters that I regularly paint, plus within my more contemporary & modern takes on them.

I remember my first commission, in high school. It was a portrait in pastel. When I completed it, the girl wasn’t 100% thrilled with it. She asked if I could remove the space between her two front teeth. I remember thinking, ‘I’m not an orthodontist.’ Years latter I would be called on to paint another portrait, this time in oil. The person had departed this life, so it was important. This time, it was the space between his teeth that was an important identifying feature of the persons appearance. Besides the fact that my portrait work is more stylized, meaning not being a photographic rendition. How we see ourselves isn’t always how others see us, which can make portrait work more difficult, landscapes are infinitely easier, grass is greener.

I’ve painted images from peoples vacations where they didn’t get that perfect photo so I’ll merge the photos they’ve taken into the perfect painted memory image. Sometimes they’re paintings of their favorite place, a garden, a vacation spot, or a lake home. Recently I was asked to paint someone’s vacation home in northern Wisconsin on a 5” wedge of pine that was being turned into a table and given to one of his children as a wedding anniversary gift. How fun and really pleasure to do for a variety of reasons, some of a more sentimental leaning. The abstracts are a lot of fun because if you already like what I do and my approach, it’s play time for me. I like taking photographs and breaking them down into a more contemporary abstract realistic form. I hope to get commissions doing that with someone else’s photo sometime, it’s also a lot of fun the results are so unique. One of these type artworks recently received an ‘Artistic Excellence’ award from Spotlight Magazine in April 2023 & just a month later this May, this piece was featured in ARTISTCLOSEUP an international magazine that features artist from all around the world, each so nice.

With this piece, I asked for the size, the colors & the space it would be hung in. The client gave me the info & sent photos. I went to work doing what I do layering in, the brushed, palette knifed & sgraffito-ed, mixed media extravaganza, including the hidden infinity sign & 18k gold which have become my signature, of sorts, in these type artworks.

Nearing completion, I sent an image of the piece to the client, he responded, “Interesting. I’m a little scared of the orange, but I like it.” I reassured him I could tone it down if he wanted but felt he should see it in person first & we could pick out a frame. Having now seen it in person & feeling the orange was to bold for his taste. It was decided that I’d do some adjustments & enhancement in those areas, thus making then a bit more rusty. He was hesitant to have me make the embellishments and very respectful of me and the art. I felt it was a commission and wanted it a more parallel vision tailored to his taste and went back to work. Completed, I sent an image for his review. His response was an enthusiastic, “I like it!” After its framed and hanging in his home, I’ll add that photo as well so visit again, soon.

Your questions & commissions are welcome, Richard

Ascension 40”x60” mixed media

placement in home

placement

Art, Nature & Soul #74

I have always loved art. As a child I remember the grade school ‘picture lady’ bringing in large prints of the more iconic artworks from the Art Institute of Chicago collection. An ever changing assortment of classic Van Gogh’s, Dali’s, Picasso’s, Renoir’s & the Caillebotte, Rainy Day in Paris, I love so well and more.

By the time I was in High School I wanted to do art and fill my surroundings with visual art. We’d hang out at the mall on the weekends that had galleries and print shops. One of the galleries was showcasing surrealistic fantasy artworks of artist Robert Owen. He specialized in paintings of clowns, mostly in cloudscapes. I became taken by his work and a piece entitled ‘Pot at the end of the rainbow’. My sister and a couple of friends ended up purchasing it for me for my 16th birthday. It was the first piece I’d ever chosen for myself. I still have it, as well as other prints of R. Owen’s work and the 1st one I purchased, entitled, Top of the World. All the world loves a clown and I sure did, Emmet Kelley, a classic, Red Skelton Hour on TV, plus Flip Wilson, Carol Burnett, & Dick Van Dyke had me in stitches, as well as some of the oldies like Stan Laurel&Oliver Hardy, Charlie Chaplan & Buster Keaton those old Black & White reels had me. Later I picked up a print of Van Gogh’s Starry Night print as well as a couple M.C. Escher ones.

In my late teens I went to one of those starving artist pop ups held out of a hotel chain and purchased my first original for 39.99, it was a seascape. While not in great shape anymore, I still have it, still love it. Just After Dali passed, Merrill Chase Galleries had ab exhibit I attended. They had a drawing or etching of his, a piece that had a peacock eyes in the tail feathers, I had intended to purchase. But the staff scanned me, profiled me and assumed I wasn’t able or serious…that was a mistake and I didn’t purchase because of the rude assessment. It turned out it was just as well, as they went out of business due to fraud, misrepresentation and forgery of the artists signature on artworks. That lesson came in handy as how to not treat people in an art gallery when I later started working at them. One of the first galleries I applied at, asked what was the most expensive thing you had ever purchased, I was taken aback and didn’t answer, cutting the interview short. I had just purchased a new car and my 1st home, again thought WTF, even before that was a thing, but I digress, as the subject at hand is the artworks I have collected & purchased over the years & why.

The signed & numbered limited edition market was huge for awhile and I added Mediterranean Sunset by Henri Plisson to my collection and another piece by a Russian artist, entitled Serenade. I was working at an art gallery when artist David Hettinger did a portrait demo of me, giving it to me. I’ve added a half dozen of his original artworks to my collection over the years. I added others by Katie Roberts, John Pail Marcelo, Anthony Soskich, & picked up a wonderful boat piece in & of Bar Harbor by Ron Johnson in a little gallery called the Argosy. I added a wonderful still life by Russian artist Natalia Andreeva, at one point, an abstract in ink, on canvas by Jerry Hardesty, photography by Brian DeWolf, a figurative watercolor by Kenney Mencher, that spoke to me, a couple etchings, one by Gustave Dore, the Ancient Mariner, a playful dog themed canvas print by Govinder, an original mother/child piece by artist Diana Mendoza from Peru., a couple small acrylic seascapes by Jerry Smith, a Sandhill Crane photo on tin by Chris Gavitt, a fantastic mixed media piece of a crow by John Sokol, & a linoleum block print of Kurt Vonnegut by Brian Busch. I’ve picked up pieces from galleries, directly from the artists as well as at art fairs, craft fairs, a few sculptures too, a carved peacock, a bronze of a wolf, a figurative piece in soapstone, Pan in ceramic, the Koshare or Sacred Clown sculpter Snowbird by and a very large student work of a face in oil on canvas, a self portrait of Francis and at one point I had my home on the market just before the housing market crash, I took it off, just in time in favor of adding an oil of the south of France by Leonard Wren Chateau Chapaisse. I’ve already, in a previous blog, spoke of my hunt for Entertainment by Vachagon Narzyan. A small contemporary seascape, purple haze, by MaryEllen Broderick sits in my mediation shelves to.

Also, some collector plates from Russia were added just after the iron curtain was torn down from a folk art community there. I have an assortment of posters prints from events, movies…Charlie Chaplan’s, A Dog’s Life, plus museum, concert & theater openings as well as collection & vintage clips from magazines and books on my walls too. As a person within the arts and person creating & selling his own work, I like to support other artists as well, besides it seems I just can’t get enough of the arts and the visually exciting personal expressions of others. High brow, low brow, it’s all art to me and I love it.

So, then this happened. Having reminisced and written about my first art acquisitions, I decided to look up and find out what Robert Owen was doing. Robert Owen was an American artist born on September 2, 1930, in Polk County, Missouri. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Kansas. In the early years of his career, he focused on landscapes and still lifes, but later, he turned to painting clowns, which became his signature subject. Owen's clown paintings are known for their bright colors and whimsical, surrealistic style. His clowns often have exaggerated features and expressions, which convey a range of emotions from joy to sadness. He was fascinated by the theatrical aspect of clowns and the emotions they could evoke in an audience. He moved to Washington in 1999 and rebooted his painting career with a new series of clown paintings.

Owen's paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. His works have also been featured in solo exhibitions at galleries in Kansas City, St. Louis, and other cities. Owen's clown paintings have been collected by many private collectors and public institutions. World renowned clown artist Robert Owen emerges back on the scene with a whole new collection of his clowns. His portrayal of life as seen through his canvas touch on all aspects of life, from politicians, athletes, doctors,lawyers, businessmen and of course clowns themselves. Robert Owen was born in 1930. He was ninth of ten children. He has been painting for over 35 years professionally. For over 30 of those years he has been delighting people with his clowns.

Robert Owen's paintings can be found among many of the international "jet set" community's distinguished art collections, and in private homes all over the nation. A partial list of his collectors include, Mr. and Mrs. Don Adams, Mr. and Mrs. Frankie Avalon, Mr. and Mrs. Sid Caeser, Mr. and Mrs. Dick Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Cunha, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Falk, Dr and Mrs. C.R. Lincoln, James Merick, Mettler Electronics Corp, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Van Dyke, Miss Dionne Warwick and James West. One man shows and exhibits have been held in many galleries some include: Norman Wilks Gallery, Oklahoma City, Ok, ~ Pagliacci Gallery, Newport Beach, CA, ~ Ira Roberts Gallery, Beverly hills, CA, ~ Maidenlane Gallery, San Francisco, CA,~ Charles Pace Gallery, Houston, TX,~Galerie De Tours, Carmel, CA,~ Albert Charles Gallery, Gatlinburg, TN,~ Craft Gallery, La Mirada, CA,~ Joy Rubins Art Emporium, Hollywood, FL,~ Grafton Street Gallery, Costa Mesa CA,~ Seger Fine Art Gallery, Boca Raton, FL,~ MGM Grand Gallery, Las Vegas, NV, ~ O'Kelly's Gallery, Long Grove, IL,~ Houshang Gallery, Dallas TX, ~ Gallerie Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, ~ Galerie de Las Artists, Las Cruces, NM,~ and the Museum of Sciences & Industry, Los Angeles, CA. You can shop our selection of other sculptures online.

His work has been sold at various auction houses, including Sotheby's and Christie's. Some of his most famous paintings include "Clown with Banana," "Clown with Balloons," and "Clown with Umbrella." Throughout his career, Owen received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts and the Missouri Arts Award. He passed away on January 17, 2022, at the age of 91. In summary, Robert Owen was an American artist known for his vibrant and surrealistic paintings of clowns. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and has been collected by many private collectors and public institutions. User What are Robert Owen (b. 1930) paintings typically worth? ChatGPT The value of Robert Owen's paintings can vary depending on various factors, such as the size, medium, subject matter, condition, and provenance of the artwork. Additionally, the demand for his work and the availability of similar pieces in the market can also affect the price. According to artnet, a database of art auction results and prices, Robert Owen's paintings have sold at auction for prices ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. For example, in 2018, his oil on canvas painting titled "Clown with Umbrella" sold for $22,500 at a Freeman's auction in Philadelphia. In 2019, his acrylic on canvas painting titled "Two Clowns" sold for $5,625 at a Sotheby's auction in New York. It's worth noting that the above prices are just examples and that the value of a particular Robert Owen painting can differ significantly depending on various factors. If you're interested in buying or selling a Robert Owen painting, it's best to consult an art appraiser or dealer who can provide a more accurate and updated assessment of its worth.

I then found an original artwork by him and added it to my collection, as a 59th birthday gift to myself, that’s upcoming this May. It’s more suited to my more current interests, the ocean and it’s entitled, ‘Surf’s Up’. I love art!

Your questions are always welcome, Richard

Pot at the end of the Rainbow by Robert Owen

Top of the World by Robert Owen

Surf’s Up 24”x36” oil original

Art, Nature & Soul #73

Some 18 years ago Don & I were traveling in New Mexico, with our then pups, in Santa Fe. As a person who has been creating art since he was a child an promoting & selling other artists for the past 36 years we were checking out the art scene for myself as well as seeing what other artists were doing.

There's a couple strips of galleries' but none more happening then Canyon Road. I had already checked out Cerrillos rd. so I was now popping in & out of the galleries, on a mission. I read a quote many years ago stating that it's only after seeing 10,ooo. pieces of art that you can know good from bad. Ones taste factors, for sure, but as a person with a large palette for all kinds of art, I tend to agree. So I looked and looked, seeing mostly good & great art, but nothing was stopping me dead in my tracks, until I stopped in Meyer Gallery, although it was a partnered gallery, back then. Anyway they were uncrating this art for a show opening Friday night.

As the gallery director continued to unpack the artworks, I became increasingly delighted, fascinated & amazed. Truly the best work I'd seen in a long time. It was a perfect blend of abstract & representational, painterly & illustrative, bordering on surrealism but more mythical & symbolic in proportion, speaking volumes to me. It turned out the work was by Vachagan Narazyan, a non-conformist artist out of Russia. The circus theme is dominate in his work and his son was the model in each of these pieces as the central character in red. This piece stood out most to me but was way to far out of my wallet range at 20,000.ish $, even the smaller pieces were, but I fell for one of them too, it stayed on mind, long after I left the gallery & returned back home...then, several months later, the hunt began.

A piece entitled ‘Entertainment’ stayed on my mind, months after we got back from New Mexico. I was blown away away by his artwork & had done some research on the artist. About 6 months after initially seeing it, I called the gallery to see if it was still available, they said, no it wasn’t. I wondered if it had sold. The gallery said it had merely been switched out for other artworks, as galleries regularly rotate and change what they’re showing. I began some internet research, googling the artists name. It turned out he had shown his work at an east coast gallery, early on and was now at a west coast one, as well. I emailed both, east coast didn’t have it, but it turned out the west coast was in fact exhibiting it. It took a few weeks to locate it and I had. I purchased it and had it shipped immediately. It was almost the fish that got away. I would have regretted that loss. It’s displayed above my studio workplace desk and inspires me daily.

*Note to self~ If it speaks to you, go for it, before its to late.

Sorry I don't remember the title of this piece but it's by artist Vachagan Narazyan from the 'Disappearing Landscapes' exhibition.

artist Vachagan Narazyan from the Disappearing Landscapes exhibition.

Entertainment by artist Vachagan Narazyan

Art, Nature & Soul #72

Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides texture; the paint appears to be coming out of the canvas...2 favorites of mine. Both van Gogh & Pollock, as well as Rembrandt are known for this technique...with only the highest quality materials I utilize this almost sculpting technique, impasto, in my paintings, as well. This, plus my palette knife & sgraffito help to create an added sense of depth & motion.

While its difficult to photograph and show the texture, both of these figurative pieces utilize impasto as I paint the painting. The layers & texture adds to the complexity & dynamics of the completed piece. The edges are shifting, allowing the viewer to complete the forms insisting they use their imagination. Instead of telling you what to see I’m asking , how do you see and fit into this scene. I love color and typically my palette shifts from a muted or tonal to colorist or sometimes pastel glow, according to the actual types of light within the space. These shifting qualities amplify the settings of my more representational artworks, certainly, and still get tweaked & adjusted in my abstracts too, according to the story being told.

These 3 have a very special place in my heart & psyche. The boy, is Henry my great nephew. He developed Diabetes when he was 4-5 years old. The older dog is Sunshine, my fathers dog who he recently sent to live with them, as he is no longer able to physically & mentally care for her, for health reasons. He then sent the pup to them to be trained as a therapy dog, Betty, named after the late Betty White , is a quick learner and the trainers are impressed by her intelligence at the task at hand. Which is to sense & alert us when Henry’s blood sugars are too high or has fallen to low. Together they are Real American Hero’s.

Every face & each piece tells a story & are oil on canvas. If you have a story that needs to be told and commemorated, like how I tell it, contact me, I love to do commissioned art works. These 2 received lots of praise on the social media circuits and were likened to van Gogh & Wyeth’s work, to which I humbly accepted, with a blush.

As always your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

‘Real American Hero’s’ 20”x24” oil

'Breakfast's Ready' 24"x20" oil

Detail

Art, Nature & Soul #71

Hours before & during my waking moments of the morning, I’m most often painting in my head, planning an approach to something I’m working on or will soon be working on, as well as thinking about the next several pieces I intend on doing, visualizing there completion. Among them, I see interiors, buildings, people, animals, vast land & seascapes, plus abstractions nano & blown up, but reduced to design elements connected. Recently I noticed, after posting a newly completed abstract and a seascape I had done the previous year…that the language & messages were very similar, regardless of their abstract or representational leanings. It’s been a revelation to find that what my intentions are & have been reflected in my artwork, as well… as I narrow in on my abstract realistic aesthetic fusion goals.

I paint my life, as I experience it. I’m not merely an abstract painter or a land, sea or cityscape one or even a figurative one for that matter. The internal as well as the external mechanisms engage and compel me to paint my life, how I think, feel it, how I experience it and how I live it…my paintings are a diary, a catalogue and a chronology of happenings. Like the ripples on water when a rock is skipped across it, so are the echoes of life connected by atoms, not separated, but similar, the same, kinetic energy. Fractals, In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illustrated in successive magnifications of the Mandelbrot set. Life a series of patterns within patterns, within patterns onto themselves from the largest to the smallest in all things…telescopic to microscopic these patterns exist on all levels & aspects…chaos changes the patterns, thus outcomes, sometimes subtly other times not so much, as it, we all change, grow & evolve..

It’s not the first or even the second time I’ve raised and spoke about these ideas. They’re are significant and so important to me in so many ways, some I’ve illustrated now and others in the past. By design, like an artwork, our being & collective consciousness are but echoes of a single entity…life, the universe & everything. Like a Phoenix rising from ashes, so it is every time I paint, an opportunity to fly, to create anew, still the patterns & rhythms echo supremely throughout, from me to you, as one expressing our unique sameness unbridled. Hope you enjoy these 2 works and see the echo & synchronicity that occurred and that have appeared and so it goes, life.

peace, love & light Richard

‘The Prettiest Star’ 30”x30” mixed media abstract

New Day 30"x30" oil representational

Art, Nature & Soul #70

A Boxing Day Story for the Poor in Spirit~

As written 12/25/2021

I'm told to always remember that whatever the person's age, from 2-92, perhaps younger, maybe even older, that while the body may show it's age and be saying one thing, that the brain inside, mostly remains the same. The desires, the dreams, and the dreads are still there, the same, unchanged, as a child full of wonderment & fear. At 57 I've found that sentiment to be true, in oh so many ways.

I was the kind of kid who woke up in the middle of the night, Christmas Eve, and went through my stocking, shook the presents under the tree, then sat on the sofa and watched out the bay window at the lights and snow covered homes, in search of Santa. One snowy, blizzard of a year with such a bright eyed wonderment that I had convinced myself I had seen him on the roof of a house a couple blocks away...maybe I had.

I'm reminded that this year is the 29th without my mother of whom I only had 28 Christmases in life. Covid & a longtime inner urging to move south, has sent my only living sibling, my sister, out of state. Her daughters, my three adult nieces followed, one to lead, 2 others in tow, following their bliss. This has left my only other immediate family, my dad, who's still in the area, of whom our father/son relationship, over these many years, is not without it's own challenges.

Growing up, I was fortunate to come from and have a large extended family. I knew 4 of my great grandparents, several 2nd aunts & uncles and a variety of 2nds & 3rds cousins on both sides of the family. Besides my mother having 6 brothers, 2 sisters and dad had 2 brothers. So, I also have lots & lots of cousins and now second great cousins...working on 3rds. Most lived in the same general area, just a few towns apart, the ones that didn't would drive or fly in, for holidays & events, plus family friends were always welcome too.

The good-times, gatherings, parties & celebrations seemed endless. Now don't get me wrong, while I remember these things with great joy & bliss and a certain wide eyed child naivety, I do know these times were not perfect. There was plenty of turmoil, divorce, alcoholism, misfortune, illnesses and deaths, to name a few, in a large family, it's inevitable, if not expected. Most everyone in my family and quite a few friends, had lived with us, my family, at some point, off & on, throughout my childhood too, so their lives were very much intertwined and a part of ours in a more wonderful & personal way. This was who my parents were, always there to lend a helping hand, whatever the circumstance. Still, for me, they, the people & times were indeed, perfectly imperfect or imperfectly perfect, and my memories, & thoughts, tickle my sentimental heart still.

While most years, between Don's family and mine, we are usually pretty busy this time of year visiting & celebrating. But, with covid, family turmoil and the rest scattered to the four corners, this, a 2nd covid year, had left Dad, Don & myself to celebrate the holidays together. Dad's getting up there in years and having some health issues, so I felt whatever we did it should be out by him, besides he still lives in the area I grew up, which felt right. After some thought and consideration, I thought of the 3 of us going to Mack's Golden Pheasant for Christmas Eve dinner.

Mack's is in the town I grew up in. It was my first job. At 14-15 years of age, I was a busboy, then dishwasher, until I began to work my way up to line cook assistant, before quitting to find my true life path. Importantly I was the peppermint ice cream taste tester...ha. Many of my aunts and uncles had worked there when they were youngsters and a grandmother, even waited tables trying to make ends meet while raising 9 children. More so, several of my friends had worked there, some into adulthood. Family events were held there often, wedding banquets, funeral dinners, Easter brunches, events & special dinners, I even hung out at the bar with a great many friends & family well into my 20s. We still go there on occasion. I've known 5 generations of the Mack's, from their family owned Restaurant.

We picked up dad and headed for Mack's Golden Pheasant. We were seated by the fireplace in the window room that looked out on their aviary, lit up in Christmas lighting, which usually has pheasants and the like in it. I hadn't been there in some years, but the decor and cuisine remained the same, outstanding with warm & cozy feel. I ordered the fillet, which came with a salad and soup. The baked French onion soup that was still excellent, the garlic dressing still out of this world and the most tender fillet served with onion rings over mushroom buttons and garlic dressings were unchanged, plus a fluffy baked potato, butter, sour cream & chives, all were still delicious.

After a couple of hours of good eats and conversation I got out my cell camera and video panned the room, fireplace, dad, our table, festive people, Don, outside the window room and its decor, holiday appropriate. As I continued to pan the room, with my cell, I had an overwhelming sense & feeling they were all here with us…ghosts of past, present & future. All those family members and friends, from days gone by, were there with us, if not in presence, certainly fond memories and spirit. And I thought, in the words of Charles Dickens Tiny Tim character, "God bless us, Everyone."

So it is, I write it down, because for now I remember it with a great love of all those who have come and gone, passing, for one reason or the other through my life and mine there's.

— feeling grateful.

Dad, Don & myself, have planned to revisit Mack’s again this year on Christmas Eve, making it a new family tradition. Dad will turn 80 mid January, 2023. With a recent ER visit he is currently in rehap and so we will see what ‘changes’ life has in store. I had taken a photo last year of the restaurant sign and have finally got to my translation in oil paint for this year. Here it is for your thoughts, comments & consideration.

Richard

‘MACK’s a 1st Snow’ 24”x24” oil

‘Mack’s a 1st Snow’ 24”x24” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #69

It’s been an amazing year, that I’m so grateful for. All challenges & opportunities accepted, and their gifts, given & received.

As a young boy growing up, my family life was filled with enormous amounts of relentless traumatic events, life turmoil & angst, as well as a profound sense of love, unspoken. I’ve been creating art since then, age 6 being my earliest memory of such doings, although the sporadic & constant struggles that loomed upon my family often just shut me down, mentally, emotionally & physically, as a child & teen, hence my art would suffer & halt, just stop, as well….me unaware that it was leaving me in a more desperate, maudlin & melancholiac state. A roller coaster of emotion, joy, bliss, profound sadness & panic…a more recent diagnosis of ptsd, has shed light on some of my triggers. I developed a wicked sense of humor to manage, laughter & comedy are the best, but, I’ve often found peace & solace in music, I still do. Trying to power through the events of the day, the week, month and passing years, I’d sing and personalize the lyrics…I suppose many of us did. As a preteen this tune was played & a torch song by me often, over & over again on a 45 vinyl I had/have…Rose Garden

Song by Lynn Anderson

Lyrics

“I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There's gotta be a little rain sometime
When you take you gotta give so live and let live or let go
Oh-whoa-whoa-whoa
I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden”

As time went on, I matured & learned to play in the rain, literally splashing in the puddles, too fun & I still like walking in the rain, it feels like a cleansing of sorts. As an older adult, I power through the difficult times, as art is my life’s mission, my therapy & besides, now I see the color even on the most grey of days & it’s amazing!

I try to live by a simple creed or motto, ‘Just do it’, when you can do it, meaning Carpe Diem,…life waits for no one, so seize the moments of your life, a bucket list, both doable & challenging. With that sentiment this years has been full, almost too full, not perfect, but imperfectly perfect or perfectly imperfect, as life is a an action word of change & happenings.

I’m a planner, so I try to have always have a plan, a direction in which I’m moving. This year came on with a bang, more than a whimper, as I added a ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ car model with the gang in it, to my meditation shelves & space. A favorite film as a child that still holds some feel good sentimental attachments. With that, 2022 was on and it was going to be a happening as the third year of the covid pandemic began. I had, had it, covid that is, & me being vaccinated & boosted as well, so it was catch up time for us. Don, myself & the pups, Blaze & Amber, were ready to romp & boo boo.

I had completed the first painting of the year, entitled ‘Blue Veil’ an 18”x18” in oil, in mostly blues, with a male dancer in it. It was inspired by a Russian dancer friend of mine who’s in the Bolshoi Ballet. I always have a daily inspiration & poetry book to read. This year was A Year With Rumi & Jim Caroll’s Fear of Dreaming. I also had some of my book reads lined up, the DUNE trilogy & Yuval Noah Harari’s trilogy on the history of humankind, past, present & future, profound & on the nose, my thoughts as well.

The past year had brought on more health & age related issues. Yep, at 57, 58, I’m all 7’s & 8’s you might say. Besides having three vision prescriptions, beginning in my 40’s. I’ve been relatively healthy but for a broken foot as a kid, a couple eye injuries when I was in my 20’s, a small hernia repair and a bought of planters fasciitis, brought on by the abuses of a day job, & that I’ve been dealing with since it got triggered 8-10 years ago. Towards the end of last year I discovered that I had several herniated discs and pinched nerves in my neck, my left arm, my painting arm was going numb as I continued to paint, so it’s been lots of physical therapy, both assisted & at home. Then having went in for a pre cancer screening, as I’m an ex smoker low these past 14 years, I discovered instead some plaque and a bit of atherosclerotic heart build up & aortic distension that has me on a statin to combat. So yes I’m discovering that aging isn’t for the faint of heart…so we make adjustments and move forward, as always. Sciatica, Sciatica, I bellow out…

I had made reservations a year in advance to check one of those bucket list items off, by going snorkeling. So we did, 3rd week of January we headed for a frequented haunt of St Augustine Florida, then on to Key West (the pups, who love to travel, were on board the boat as we snorkeled, an amazing thrill), back to Flagler Beach where we stayed at the Whale Watch motel. A little place we’d passed by, over many years, that had intrigued me as it, sits overlooking the Atlantic in an area where the whales pass by. We had just missed a few, by all accounts by other watchers. On our way home we stopped in Georgia, just north of Atlanta where my only living sibling, my sister and her adult daughters, my nieces had relocated too, over the covid years, past, some I hadn’t had the chance to say by to or wish them well…so it was important to me and it was a great trip & we were off to a fantastic start to the year.

Then, back home we crossed paths with a couple of coyotes. I’ve seen them from a distance over these many years, but this time we were close, I tried to make noise to shoo them away, instead one seemed to be flanking us the other blocked the path before walking towards us. We hightailed it out there. Mid fall we crossed paths again at dusk, it was to close for comfort. Our timing is synced and we’re on a similar path, this time they seemed to be hunting us…I’m concerned and trying to stay out of their territory. Shortly after returning, we met up with my twin cousins about 2 hours west of us for brunch, as dad had wanted to show me a stone Native American sculpture on on the river were he had spent a great deal of time hunting when he was a young parent and also, where he wants his ashes spread after his passing. I started playing around with creating B&W photo cameos just before the Russian/Ukraine war took hold. The gallery I’m at, held a fundraiser for the Children of Ukraine effected by the war. 15 or so artists donated artworks for the UNICEF children’s campaign, it was a success I donated 2 pieces, 1 sold, a large sunflower with a map of the Ukraine. We saw long time comedic icon, Carol Burnett, perform at the Chicago Theater, a bucket list dream come true & after waiting 2 covid years, the UK musical phenomenon Jacob Collier performed at the Riviera Theater, Chicago. He’s a massive talent to watch,

My husband Don turned 60 this year so we met up with his family for a dinner party at a local pub and later that month went to the Arcada Theater, here in St. Charles Il. to see the Musical Box, tribute band perform The Lamb Lays Down , endorsed by the band Genesis. Don & I continue to work through a multitude of issues. You’d think after 36 years things would be a lot easier & more smooth & comfortable, but theses days it seem that neither of us are getting what we want from each other & we bicker & argue a lot, like grumpy old men. I yearn for the fun, calm & comfort of our norm or resolution. We got covid and I was out of work, unpaid, yet again. Three days of flu like symptoms, nothing too bad, but I don’t usually get ill…so there’s that . A week or so later we met up with Don’s youngest sister’s family, for dinner before heading to another concert…Garbage opening for a longtime favorite of mine, Tears For Fears…they were both awesome cool.

Politics, religion & covid have caused some insurmountable problems with some family members & friends…It seems there’s confusion about personal choice & imposing ones will on others, even at the cost of their health, well being, safety, security & life. Where as mine is put in jeopardy, dismissed & forgotten about and the idea of being empathetic of other’s thoughts & ideas, that are unlike theirs, is unknown, and an alien concept, muchless the idea of taking responsibility for the nations, or the worlds peoples. As sanctioned & brought to you by their opposing views, ala me, me, & more me, it seems most, at least 1/2 are unable to work well & play well with others. Something they should have learned in grade school. I worry about the country, as well as world affairs, as do many, now, too. So let’s say collectively it’s about WE, not me.

Always painting & reading daily, weekly..as it feeds me. I’ve started a yoga & meditation discipline, it’ll take time to make it a more daily practice. So happy to have given up coffee about 10 years ago, in favor of tea I love Adagio tea, Yunnan Noir, black dragon pearls, Masala Chia & Oriental Spice are good too, my herbals Fox Trot and Blood Orange are superior ..they’re out of New Jersey but we have a local shop near me too. By summer, we planned to take a long weekend up in Michigan staying at a cabin with the pups at a LGBTQ resort, ‘Camp-It’…always so fun & chill. On route we had decided to go to the PRIDE parade here in Chicago, this year, more than most, it seemed so important to make our stand, our voices heard, & we hadn’t went to one in many, many moons besides. WE, the pups and a million or so others had united in love & support, for the day…oh what a feeling, a real thrill, a good decision. Art Institute of Chicago opened a Cezanne exhibit, the first in 70 years, as a fan we attended & I was inspired. Later that month we made it to the 50th anniversary of the musical performance of Jesus Christ Superstar, at the Cadillac Palace, Chicago. I’m a longtime fan of the music, play, & words of Jesus, as well as the other & many inspired sages of the world, as I consider myself a Unitarian Universalist. It was fantasmagorical…another thrill & bucket list event, checked off.

Olivia Newton-John passed on after a 30 year battle with cancer. It effected me deeply, it seems strange with all the more personal losses of friends & family over the years that a celebrity passing would touch me so. She was a most beautiful human being, the most. My dad has continued to struggle health wise , mentally & physically over the past several years. With our relationship having always been at odds with each other and so strained, its been difficult and more than I can successfully manage emotionally. With my sister & my nieces having recently moved out of state, my feelings of isolation & aloneness, have been overwhelming, it all leaves me feeling abandoned, the orphan. With Fathers Day just around the corner we planned and took dad to brunch & on a riverboat ride cruise, along the Fox River…he seemed to really enjoy it and I’m glad, as he seems to enjoy very little of life, these days. My nieces have come to state several times too, but for one reason or the other we haven’t been able to meet up, it saddens me greatly.

The indie folk rock band The Decemberists, were back at The Chicago Theater too, a great concert, but they didn’t play ‘The Mariners Revenge Song’ there or at any of the venues they had played for this month long tour…a favorite, I wonder why. They have been my favorite band over the past decade, indie folk rock rules. My creative output & painting has been sporadic this year as sales have been down, as has been the economy most of the year. But not to worry, inflation has been insane, every bill and personal cost has went up 20-40%, just not my day job income, ever here. The gallery & frame shop, in which is my bread & butter, is not without it’s inordinate obstacles, complications & challenges, low these near 7 years, but not to be dwelled on. We took the pups hiking at Starved Rock State Park, a regular visit for us, that’s always a treat, nature & all. Those pups, Blaze & Amber, are my joy & bliss. My sister was in town for family-in-law stuff and we were able to meet for lunch at Gia Mia’s, in St Charles, so nice, it was a beautiful day, a moment to cherish, I captured a selfie of us two, too.

September brought the release of the documentary ‘Moonage Daydream’ , a David Bowie life montage…simply brilliant, unlike anything you’ve ever seen before of the genre. I’m a bit of a film addict, there where lots of new good features…a few being, The wwi film, All Quiet on the Western Front, the documentary, Andy Warhol Diaries, an older Dutch LGBTQ film BOYS, The Northman, Banshee’s of Inisherin, & the horror films, X & NOPE. I have high hopes for Spielberg’s The Fabelman too. We went to the Pet Shop Boys/ New Order concert it the Huntington Pavilion on Lake Michigan in Chicago and danced the night away, a rude and abrupt reminder of my age, muscles and bones ached for days afterward as they hadn’t moved that way in a long while, lol…its all good though, as they are to 2 bands I’ve adored a lifetime & well worth it. This was the night before we headed out to our annual road trip to Ptown. We kept enroute and the scenics to a minimum this year, as I needed to chill & we did. We did all our favorite things, we love to do while we were there…plus, we became foodies for the week, walked the breakwater & saw the whales, yet again, pups on board with us & always a beautiful thing, a mystic & ethereal thrill.

My artwork seems to have taken a surprise and welcome turn this year, even more loose then my normal loose, organic and flowing out of me in an honest, sincere, & meaningful way. Looking back, it feels like a good painting year & several stand out as especially successful to me, a commissioned piece Evening Glow, (it was likened to Turner)…plus, The Visible, Bohemia, The Majestic, Misty Meadow, Essence, T.N. 2022…the Rainy Day in Chicago piece I posted here & the large abstract triptych, Go Away White, that I’m currently working on. While I’m content to paint, & feel I’m on the verge of significant commercial breakthrough, I do wonder time to time if so, when? Still, I have discovered I’m a bit of a influencer, unacknowledged as it may be, true never the less & a compliment of sorts too. I’m an avid reader and there’s been several worth mentioning & remembering, The Shores of Bohemia, The Children of Ash & Elm, At Swim Two Boys, Van Gogh and the Artist He Loved, Dream Boy & On Tyranny…I haven’t got to the Cezanne exhibition book yet, but I’m sure I will, by years end. An exhibition opened at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago. The First Homosexuals: Global Depictions of a New Identity, 1869-1930, part 1 of a 2 part exhibition, it was so important for us to attend & beyond outstanding…I’m so glad we were able to make it and look forward to part 2 in 2025, plus I await its exhibition book too.

After Bowie endorsed the band Arcade Fire I became a huge fan so we went to see them at the United Center…another bucket list item, checked off. They began playing as we found out the democrats had won Nevada in the midterms & that American Democracy , its system of checks & balances had prevailed, once again, for now. An awesome night. WE Celebrated!! Several days later we went to help usher in, the next wave of cool, you all remember cool, right? Long live glitter rock n’ roll with the glam, goth, theater rock stylings of a band out of Italy, MANESKIN (moonshine)…I went in leather, lace, velvet, a black feather boa, a pink glitter heart on my left cheek, a brass safety pin dangling from my hoop earing and the appropriate amount of lip & eye liner, with Don on my arm, to the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago… Iggy Pop had done vocals on one of their tunes, a rerelease of I Wanna Be Your Slave…that spoke volumes to me & it was good to be ‘loud kids’ again, for the night. I see great things in their future, like rising stars shooting across the sky, just watch them go, in awe & wonderment. Don said, “probably the best band we’ve seen.”

This Thanksgiving, will be another quiet day with Don, myself & dad and we’ll do Christmas Eve, with him as well, at a longtime family haunt, The Golden Pheasant, if life allows & so it is, another year passes. I’ll play Olivia N-J & Sufjan Stevens 5 disc holiday albums from the end of November through the New Year. I sometimes wish so many things hadn’t changed, but then that is life, lest we forget, an ever changing scape, where we make decisions & choices as the world turns & time, like sands in a hour glass, passes us by. And I think, yes, we are here for but a moment & I’m grateful for each & everyone of them.

I love Chicago & the Land of Lincoln, I grew up a fifteen minute drive from downtown Chicago & we visited it often for events, as such & the like…I still do regularly, even though we’ve moved, a bit further west, out into the burbs & country, for all the benefits they afford. The cultural diverseness and the arts have always beckoned me there, to the city, my 2nd home. This piece came together as more of a statement, ‘Along with the sunshine, There's gotta be a little rain sometime.’ Our lives are mostly at bay, a distanced view, a perspective, an attitude & choices, so grateful to be here for all of it & time marches on. BTW my pronoun is the obscure Thone, meaning that one or the one & I Am, that is I identify as Queer af. So then, I had this articulated thought & moment of clarity…WE, ALL LIFE, ARE ORGANIC ALGORITHMS RECOGNIZING MATHEMATICAL PATTERNS OF FRACTALS x CHAOS, MADE OF THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MATTER & ENERGY OF SYNCHRONICITY IN THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM...stardust, be it named, the Universe, Absolute Reality or God.

I never thought I’d be able to do any of it, until I started thinking, ‘Just Do it.’

Dear Diary,

Peace, Love & Light,

With Grace & Gratitude,

Sincerely Richard

‘Rainy Day Chicago’ 24”x30” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #68

Is it representational or an abstract? Do you know the image that inspired this painting? If so, you know the answer. Here's my inspiration, the Tarantula Nebula as seen through the James Webb telescope...I like to think I painted it plein air & here's what it looked like 90 minutes after this photo was taken...

Much of my approach in painting, as I’ve written about many times, is to ‘illustrate’ the echoes of the abstract in representational & that the representational can be broken down into the abstract,,,realism is in the eyes of the beholder and how its expressed, a perspective, a line is a line and doesn’t exist in reality, what we think of as a hard line truly fuses into the other objects, atoms as a whole, thus an edge is formed, uniting all form.

I’ve stated many, many times that my abstracts are or could be seen as a small portion of one of my more representational artworks, as seen under a microscope or through a telescope. When I saw a photo of the Tarantula Nebula as seen & captured from the James Webb Space Telescope, I immediately knew I had to paint it. Paint it, not only because of its immense beauty & symbolic meaning to me, but also to show the abstract nature of the representationalism. Yes, this image of a realistic place, in space & time that doesn’t need to be broken down into an abstract form, for it is an abstract form made real, as is all of life.

Because the photo wasn’t taken by me & the inherent nature of my work being that of spontaneity, serendipity & synthesis…I choose to go at it in as an organic, changing, moving, living entity in which my moment captured was perhaps 90 minutes after the photo was taken. As if plein-air painting the night sky, a nebula so far away were even possible. Here are the results of my thoughts & labors, using my broad palette & multi painting tools.

your comments & questions are welcome

Thanks, Richard

‘T.N. 2022’ 40”x20” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #67

A client at Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop asked the owner if he knew anyone who could do a commission artwork of this business card. Her son had taken it and the negative was sent off to a company that used it for their 2014 calendar, but lost the file. The problem being the only image left was the magnet with the company name & a full years calendar over the image. He asked me and several other house artists, sending images of our work to the potential client. Sunsets & sunrises are always on my to paint list, as I love the dramatic colors…hence I wanted to paint it as well.

Why,? Like most, but, on one such day, a spectacular color & light show, blues & oranges, violets & yellows, plus greens...just after an evenings storm & then the morning comes with a brilliant greeting all its own. I begin & end my days walking with the pups, a 1/2 hour or so, after the sun begins to shed light for the day and as it begins to set for the day. Everyday is different and they all have their own unique possibilities, charms & challenges...just being there for it all, capturing a visual memory, a photo, a painting.

With a 36”x24” stretched canvas and I was ready to paint. Initially I thought to be direct and paint it more realistic in the colors most others would see. Quickly I switched gears thinking that’s not what I do. I see colors unseen and use texture to create movement, so the end end result is an emotion based one, as I assumed was the persons attraction. A physical, a mental and emotionally sensory reaction that I was sure I could enhance & heighten.

Once the initial approach is in my head, I set out to paint, a plein air approach from a photo. This meaning I work very quickly in an impressionistic way., more spontaneous, intuitive & direct. My palette here is lemon yellow, cad yellow light, cad orange, vermillion, manganese blue, indigo blue, prussian blue, sap green, olive green, raw umber, gray of gray, mineral violet, & magenta, of course titanium white. Tools used where a #12 round, #8,10, &12 flat, & a # 10 filbert brushes, 3 different types of palette knives, a sculpting tool for doing sgraffito, a makeup liner & tissues.

Upon completion, it received rave reviews to my surprise and joy. 1 such commentor Shannon M. even said, “Beautiful, reminds me of Turner!.” Which was especially nice to hear, as artist J.M.W. Turner was perhaps the first to merge representational into abstract forms in a painting & he’s a favorite of mine. Then it was delivered to the gallery and unveiled for the client. A text message received, “She Loves it.” I couldn’t been more pleased & happy, but then another message & image was sent. “She would like a painting of this scene”, and I realized I had another commission. She had taken 5 photos of Como Italy, but none were a great photo, so she wanted it turned into a painting, creating a happy time image. For a painter, that welcome news and it doesn’t get any better…I was thrilled.

Thanks to all my supporters, patrons & collectors.

Your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

Evening Glow 36”x24” oil on canvas

COMO, 30”x24” oil on canvas