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 #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 #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 #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 #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 #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

Art, Nature & Soul #66

Lemme Take You To The Beach~

There’s a pond behind our home, another at the park we walk everyday and I’m walking distance to the Fox river…Lake Michigan, Superior & Erie are all bodies of water I frequent annually, but it’s the vast Atlantic ocean that beckons me. I love sitting around bodies of water and painting them, but its beach time that calls me home, whether we are there alone or surrounded be 100’s of others that have flocked there for similar reason’s, the peace, calm & serenity, joy & bliss that bodies of water instill.

The ever changing seasonal flora & fauna around bodies of water make them especially attractive to me. There’s a peaceful and all encompassing sense of universal belonging & forever, that fills my every sense. I’m lost in my thoughts near these areas where land & sky meet water, transcending all else, accept my feeling of connectedness to all life… a thought, a realization. a meditation of oneness.

This grouping of paintings, where the subject is the ocean & beaches. From top, left to right is, a group of plein-air artists on Herring Cove on Cape Cod, the 1 st day of harvest moon rising over Martha’s Vineyard, the lighthouse at Race Point in Provincetown, MA. with a few beachcombers, a pier over the Pacific, swimmer’s, a piece inspired by a film and a snorkeling adventure in Key West & a film, the pier that reaches out over St. Augustine Beach Florida, Marconi Beach on the Cape in Massachusetts, Seagulls & Sand Pipers on a beach, either St. Simons GA. or Flagler Beach FL. & the path on the beach that reaches out to the Atlantic from a favorite little eatery in Ptown, the Canteen. These are the places that inspired me to paint them, but what they remind you of , where they bring you & your imagination and stories you create, is up to you.

I paint on location, take lots of photos references, to paint in the studio & use my imagination to create these compositions. I’ll do a kinetic high energy, drip & splatter painting in acrylic paint, to compliment or spike the colors that will become the painting, Then using my arsenal of oil paints & utensils, brushes, palette knives, sculpting tools, tissues and a finger or 2, I go to work in a high energy, free flowing, & spontaneous way, to share the mood & movement of the scene. The initial concept is the thing, for once the image is in my head, it’s a simply a matter of getting in down on canvas as quickly & honestly as possible. Often times with this Frank Zappa tune repeating it self, over & over again, in my head…so, ”Lemme Take You To The Beach, la,la,la,la…laaa.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed this bit of insight into my process & mind.

Message me with any thoughts or questions you may have,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #65

‘The Artist’s Palette"‘ is a new series of ongoing abstracts I’ll be putting out there for your consideration.

Over the years when I’ve completed an abstract, often times I think to myself it looks like an artists palette, mine in fact. I’m usually working on several artworks, both representational & abstract, at any given time, so the color palettes are often similar as they… the multi disciplines, echoes & rhythms are always playing off each other, in my work, for me, and ever present in my thoughts is this~

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 or God.

Like ripples on water or the breeze in the wind, a close up view of a wild flower patch, sand on the beach or the night sky, the patterns within patterns with patterns are the enigma we call life. These patterns are ever present whether we notice them or not, importantly we can repeat them and create them as prescribed by nature, life, the universe & everything.

Chaos changes the patterns, the new pattern changes the outcome & design, but if we can’t change anything because it’s already happened, then we may as well smoke flowers. I believe we can, we do change the outcome. As such it’s our our responsibility, if not our prerogative to try.

These novelty artworks reflect that idea and echo that sentiment. Most if not all palettes are initially used in the creation of one of my standard paintings, either representational or abstract. All though I must confess, sometimes I’m overwhelmed & inspired to push paint & color around, create textures & designs. These make a perfect impromptu painterly emotional escape for me. Each are a 9”x12” on wood palette and have an introductory price of $100. directly from me, the painter.

Your questions & comments are welcome. Message me if you’re interested in acquiring one of “The Artist’s Palette” pieces. ~Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #64

Pride x Infinity Squared = Love, was the working title as I built this painting up, layer by layer, medium by medium. An aerial view, of us, the viewer, hovering over the two figures… 2 people as they float face to face embracing in water, contemplating leaning in to kiss. They are the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, that determines its character, hence the essence of being, their being complete in a sort of mobius strip configuration, of pure energy, infinite.

Today, everyone has their pronouns, especially from our youths, in their teens & 20’s it’s commanded, it’s demanded, it’s decided, at least for today. That so stated I declare myself a ‘Queer af Thon’, air quotes intended, which is to say that’s for me to decide, but expect the unexpected with a dash of the obscure ‘That One’ or ‘The One’. But back in my day or rather my youth, I remember, upon months before my first marriage to a woman, that my soon to be father in law , that is to say, her father sent us to a seminar, in our teens, that was to help us grow into successful, productive & happy adults. (*note-I was to marry another female before deciding on the male, whom my life partner was to be. All, persons were aware of my ‘more queer nature’.) I recall the speaker working his way around to me and asking, “who are you, what do you see yourself doing & being in 5 years?” I , of course had heard the multitude of rather hopeful but dry answers from other male & female participants in the audience. With that, I stood tall, firm and with a bit of a tone & an attitude and stated, “I AM” and sat back down. The speaker asked for me to elaborate, again I stood and repeated, “I AM” sat down, as he soon moved on, me unmoved.

So let me explain what I meant & mean, "I Am that I Am" let me repeat "I am who I am", "I will become what I choose to become", "I am what I am", "I will be what I will be", "I create what(ever) I create", and "I am the Existing One", which is for me to decide on my own terms, in my own time, transcendent, of all else, without need to justify, so long as no one gets hurt, intentionally.

After watching a coming of age LGBTQIA film where 2 youths discover who they are and fall in love, I was inspired to paint this piece, So I began by drawing the figures in water. Then began the layering of acrylic paint…iridescent & interference colors adding as a 3rd & 4th layer. Adding oil paint I began to block in the shapes, then using my ebony pencil added some relevant to the theme symbols and words, continuing with more oil paints, oil pastel, 18k gold paint, until finally using charcoal to add high contrast/dissolve and my signature 18k gold leaf, my vision was complete. This being the ambiguous & androgenous nature of the figures in love, as they embrace. As their gender, sexuality & identity was self defined & secondary to love, with the only thing needed from the outside world, being acknowledgement & acceptance, without judgement, criticism or reason, unconditionally. So I dare you, put yourself in the painting, we are all these 2 person’s, searching, in love, when that person that completes us, our mate is found. This “IS-FREEDOM” & self evident, our right to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" as so phrased in the United States Declaration of Independence & have a Happy 4th of July, 2022.

Your comments & questions are welcome, Richard

‘ESSENCE” 30”x30” mixed media

Art, Nature & Soul #63

An artist friend wrote to me in regard to an abstract expressionist piece I had just completed & posted on one of the social media platforms I’m on.

Gabriela M. from Argentina,

“This one is guarding her! I liked it a lot! It reminded me of another face.de Abstraction that I did.. that I adored and here they purposely upload Realism to moan... no need to bother Antiques. I already showed that I do Realism well and I prefer Abstract... and other styles Like minimalism or Informalism and Suprematism included in the line of Abstract. and I generate 4 lines discovered by me that I upload them and they don't support me, maybe a chicken with potatoes. or a worthless cartoon. guys no one knows who he is! He doesn't even do it. It's clear that being an artist is not being these people! Fight FOR your taste. friend. luck!!! There is nothing that suits them good only evil.. the discouraged. envy me being me. bad people. thankful that I have some friends who pretend to be seen. They talk to you. they support you. . the other ghosts!?”

“The other ghosts”, and yes most of us can draw & paint the more realistic and representational, as well, but we are the persons who see beyond the more traditional conventions of the day. It’s interesting how some viewers, other painters included, simply do not understand it or get it, abstract artwork that is. To me it seems so simple. I found myself explaining my work to an interested party, enticing them to participate at the gallery, just the other day, when they remarked, “You do everything,” in regards to both the representational and abstract nature of my work. “Can you tell me a bit about it? What inspires you?"” To which I responded , “I feel they are the same and play off each other. Do you know what fractals are? Patterns within patterns that exist in everything under a microscope to those seen from the largest telescope. Energy traces, the patterns are echoes of each other, from the smallest to the largest, where as chaos can change the patterns,“ I explained. Creating a square template, as a view finder, holding it over a 5” area, keeping composition in mind, over one of my representational artworks, stopping, I said, “here’s a small abstract, now imagine it 36” x36”. They both immediately got it, continued to look at my abstracts, then I added, as a response to what inspires me, “Everything, I see something, think a thing, have an idea and just have to paint it…I’m usually working on & building up 3-6 pieces at any given time.” That said, in the universe I’m working, there’s no lines separating us, only edges that connect us. I try to keep it free flowing, natural & organic, plus there’s lots of symbolism & mythology used in my abstract works and more obvious ones in the representational artworks.

.Interestingly, with the representational work, once I choose a subject they move along rather quickly and most directly, over several hours or days, to completion. Where as the abstracts, I begin with a basic idea and build off it over days, weeks, & sometimes, over several months, as I evaluate my next move, adding & subtracting visual information. This piece has more scribbles, marks & erasures then most of my other artworks of this nature. They are very difficult to photograph and capture their true depth and scope. More so they are best appreciated in person as the layering of mediums draw us in with an hypnotic quality. The mediums used are acrylic & oil paint, oil pastel, ebony pencil, charcoal , 18k gold paint marker & gold leaf. The 18k gold leaf & infinity symbol, has become my trademark, a signature of sorts, on most of my abstract artworks. Like peeling an onion, so then are the thoughts in ones mind, as are the layers of meaning within this piece. Adding & subtracting, making marks & erasures made, until finally the vision is complete for others to ponder & create their own stories within, which fascinates and is always what I want, the viewers participation and engagement, as my story ended when the piece was completed.

*Note~Having been suddenly struck and engaged by my abstract artwork, which led to an in-depth, but upbeat & fun conversation, about how & why I do what I do, to which they responded by acquiring not 1, but 2 pieces. Both 'Catharsis' & 'Eye of the Fire' 32"x32" framed mixed media, have found a new home & I couldn't be more grateful & thrilled

Your questions are welcome, thanks, Richard

‘Scribbles, Marks & Erasures’ 36” square mixed media by Richard Sperry’

‘Scribbles, Marks & Erasures’ 36” square mixed media by Richard Sperry

Art, Nature & Soul #62

What & How we see is equal to, how we convey it. A visual translation into its own language is how I choose to speak to an audience, hungry for a commonality expressed in paint. In an age of mechanical reproduction, from the most basic of tracing or graphing the image & modified digital recreations, masquerading as original art, makes the search for ‘art’ a more difficult task. Like all academic skills they have their place, but creation is creation, an original, an original, & a copy, a copy.

Even more so, it seems now a days anyone with a digital camera or cell phone, is a photographer. Please push the envelope if you’re going to claim said status, pretty pictures are a dime a dozen, even the misappropriated ones which seem abundant. That said, a photo is a great way to remember a moment you’ve experienced, so when I’m not painting on location I use them as emotional, as well as visual references, for both great times had & potential future paintings, expressed. In this photo capture the serenity of the beach, the quiet sounds of the waves rolling in as the birds, seagull & sand piper alike , spend their time looking for breakfast, along the shoreline.

The photo I’ve taken has seemingly crisp lines separating all entities and our eye has averaged the colors into blocks for easy understanding. Having been here, to this location, a beach, and making mark, a visual memory, I know that the color and light are much more dynamic in person and have set out to paint there depth and interactions.

Here I’ve begun by toning a 24”square canvas in an acrylic prism violet. The violet gives a subtle color continuity to the painting as a whole and when my sgraffito technique is used to scratch into the surface paint, thus giving an even greater depth. This also helps to give direction and the allusion of motion. After brushing in preliminary shapes and blocks of color, I get busy with a variety of palette knives, layering in the water, sand & birds along the shoreline. Artistic license is used here as I’ve made just a suggestion of the Sand Pipers, as to keep our primary focus on the Seagull. With the Seagull in mind, I’ve also modified its location and changed ever so slightly the shape of the wings & legs to give the appearance of lift off, where as the photo it’s running toward that moment.

I’ll spend weeks, days & a great many hours thinking about my approach and what my intended statement is, before ever picking up a brush. Once it’s in my head though, I work very quickly, blocking, layering & building the image, as to make it a non static representation, trying to keep it fluid, moving and changing. That being said, rather than a moment trapped in amber, I’m creating a moving , living landscape of the world we live in and you’re invited to come along as an active participant.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into my thoughts & creative process.

As always, you questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

Shoreline, Seagull & Sand Pipers

24”x24” oil