Art, Nature & Soul #111

PRIDE SYMPOSIUM ALLEGORY

Thus, the origins of love. This piece incorporates several ideas brought fourth from Ancient Greece. I’ve taken the Greek gods, EROS, Pan, & Daphnis and placed them in a scape with 5 pillars, the Pantheon high above with an excerpt from Plato’s Symposium written in stone beside them, to consider. Plato’s Symposium features several allegories exploring the nature of love, most notably Aristophanes’ myth of split humans searching for their "other half" to regain original wholeness. These stories, told at a drinking party (symposium), explore how love drives people toward virtue, beauty, and immortality. The Stone states,

“ And when one of them meets with his other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and one will not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment: these are the people who pass their whole lives together; yet they could not explain what they desire of one another. ” ~PLATO

This quote is from Plato’s Symposium (specifically, the speech of Aristophanes), which explains the origin of love as a desperate, lifelong search to reunite with our original "other half". It describes the intense, inseparable intimacy and "amazement" felt when soulmates meet, often without understanding why they crave this absolute unity.

• Context: In the Symposium, Aristophanes explains that humans were originally two-headed, four-armed beings split in half by Zeus as punishment.

• Meaning: The "other half" represents finding one's "missing piece," leading to a desire for total, inseparable, and lifelong companionship.

• The "Amazement": The passage highlights that this connection is so intense that the pair cannot bear to be separated and cannot explain the deeper, spiritual longing they feel for one another.

• Source: This speech is a key part of Plato’s dialogue, The Symposium, which explores the nature and origin of love.

  Eros over sees Pan & Daphnis, Eros is the Greek god of love, desire, and procreation, often depicted as a winged youth with a bow and arrows, or in later myths, as the son of Aphrodite. His Roman counterpart is Cupid or Amor. Eros also refers to passionate, romantic love, or, in psychology, the life instinct

In Greek mythology, Pan, the goat-legged god of the wild, and Daphnis, a beautiful Sicilian shepherd and pioneer of pastoral music, are figures in a bucolic tale of love and mentorship. Pan teaches Daphnis to play the panpipes, often depicted in art as an eroticized scene of seduction.

• Mythological Relationship: Pan is the lover of Daphnis, who is often described as the son of Hermes and a nymph. Daphnis is a, idyllic figure of youth, and Pan, the shepherd god, instructs him in music while pursuing him.

The Pantheon in Rome is a former Roman temple, renowned for its massive, 2nd-century, unreinforced concrete dome and central oculus. Commissioned by Emperor Hadrian around 125 AD on the site of Agrippa’s earlier temple, it serves as a remarkably preserved, iconic symbol of Roman architectural engineering and history.

• Purpose: Originally dedicated to "all the gods" (the name derives from Greek pan for "all" and theos for "god"), it was converted into a church in 609 AD, known as Santa Maria ad Martyres.

Within the vast landscape are scratched the possibilities of the origins of love, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Pansexual, Non-Binary, & Gender Fluid. The work also has other words & symbols scratched within, OUT, Ally, LGBTQAI+ & others like a heart, a peace sine to name a couple.

Atop the mountain, stretching into the sky are 5 pillars, which spell out PRIDE, in rainbow colors except for the blue which is the skies the limit, but represent the 5 pillars of survival.

The Five Pillars of Survival

It should come as no surprise since the pillars are founded on human survival instincts and tools that have been used for hundreds of thousands of years. Here are the pillars:

1. Water

2. Food

3. Shelter

4. Fire

5. Self-Defense

These most basic building blocks, 5 pillars, visualized in rainbow PRIDE, like the whimsy of a children’s building blocks.

This piece represents my thoughts on what art should be.

"Art is the medium of visionary soothsayers, speaking the truths of humanity" ~R. Sperry

The quote "Art is the medium of visionary soothsayers, speaking the truths of humanity" is attributed to R. Sperry (Richard Sperry), an artist whose work often explores themes of personal history, emotions, and contemporary society.

• Context: Richard Sperry is an American artist based in Illinois who describes his work as a "personal diary, catalog, and chronology of his life's events". He often mixes media, including acrylic, oil, charcoal, and gold leaf, to create contemporary/abstract pieces.

• Significance: The quote reflects a belief that artists act as observers and predictors, using their creative medium to distill profound, often hidden, human experiences into visible truths.

• Similar Concepts: This perspective echoes other, more famous, meditations on the function of art, such as Pablo Picasso's assertion that "Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth" or Wassily Kandinsky’s view of art as a vehicle for expressing spiritual and universal human emotions.

The quote is featured in his blog and associated with his artistic philosophy, which emphasizes that art serves as a personal diary and a means to explore internal and external mechanisms of life, emotion, and existence. Sperry emphasizes that art—whether abstract or representational—serves to challenge perception and reveal deeper meaning.

• Context: Richard Sperry is known for mixed-media paintings that often feature 18k gold leaf and an infinity symbol, creating, as he puts it, "a signature... that distinguishes his work".

• Significance: This statement suggests that artists are modern "soothsayers"—prophets or seers who reveal profound, often hidden, truths about the human condition.

• Themes: His work touches on themes of empathy and the need for safe spaces, often incorporating abstract and contemporary elements that reflect his life's journey.

  Sperry Fine Art +3

The quote appears in his discussions on modern art and his own artistic process.

While often associated with his own creative philosophy, the sentiment aligns with broader artistic traditions:

• The Visionary Role: Sperry suggests that artists act as "soothsayers," looking beyond surface reality to capture deeper, universal truths about the human experience.

• Art as Truth: This echoes Aristotle’s belief that the aim of art is to represent "inward significance" rather than just "outward appearance".

• Humanity’s Medium: Unlike scientific data, art is viewed here as the primary vessel for expressing values, emotions, and the "mind's eye".

  Sperry Fine Art +4

You can explore more of his perspectives and gallery work on the official Sperry Fine Art website.

The quote by R. Sperry—"Art is the medium of visionary soothsayers, speaking the truths of humanity"—perfectly encapsulates the artistic philosophies and roles of both Pablo Picasso and Wassily Kandinsky. Both artists were pioneers who moved beyond literal representation to convey deeper truths about the human experience, acting as "visionaries" of the 20th century.

1. "Visionary Soothsayers" (Anticipating Change)

• Picasso: Along with Braque, Picasso shattered traditional representation through Cubism, anticipating the fragmentation and technological acceleration of the modern world. He was viewed as the artistic visionary against whom 20th-century art was measured.

• Kandinsky: Kandinsky viewed artists as spiritual leaders or prophets guiding society. In Concerning the Spiritual in Art, he argued that art should look beyond the material world to reveal inner, spiritual truths.

2. "Speaking the Truths of Humanity" (Beyond Literalism)

• Picasso's Truth as a "Lie": Picasso famously stated, "Art is a lie that makes us realize truth". He believed art should not merely copy nature but use distortion to express deeper, emotional realities, such as the despair in his Blue Period (The Old Guitarist).

• Kandinsky's Inner Truth: Kandinsky sought to convey "inner necessity" rather than external reality. He believed color and form directly influenced the soul, acting as a universal language for human emotion and spiritual awakening.

Summary of Comparison

• Picasso functioned as a soothsayer by deconstructing how humanity perceives reality (using Cubism to show multiple perspectives at once).

• Kandinsky functioned as a soothsayer by guiding humanity toward a new, non-materialistic spiritual consciousness.

Both men moved away from reproducing the visible world to reveal invisible, foundational truths about the human condition, validating Sperry’s definition of art as a medium for visionary insight.

The statement by R. Sperry—"Art is the medium of visionary soothsayers, speaking the truths of humanity"—echoes a tradition of artists who view their work as a conduit for spiritual, metaphysical, or profound social truths. This sentiment aligns with artists, past and present, who create works that transcend mere decoration to become prophetic or visionary messages.

Here are other artists and movements that echo this sentiment:

Visionary and Spiritual Artists

These artists, often working with surreal or abstract imagery, aim to translate inner, invisible, or spiritual experiences into visual truth:

• Alex Grey: Known for paintings that portray multiple dimensions of reality, intertwining biological anatomy with psychic and spiritual energies.

• Hilma af Klint: A pioneer of abstract art whose work was deeply influenced by spiritualism and intended to express invisible truths.

• William Blake: A historical forerunner of visionary art, blending poetry and visual art to explore spiritual and moral truths.

• Hieronymus Bosch: Used unique, fantastical symbolism to explore themes of morality, sin, and the human condition.

• The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, et al.): Employed meticulous technique to render dreamlike, metaphysical visions.

• Android Jones: A contemporary digital artist who creates psychedelic, detailed works exploring consciousness and spirituality.

"Truth-Teller" and Prophetic Artists

These artists use their medium to speak uncomfortable truths about humanity, society, and justice, often acting as "soothsayers" for the modern world:

• Robert Shetterly: Known for his series "Americans Who Tell the Truth," which portrays activists and whistleblowers to spark dialogue on social, environmental, and economic fairness.

• Banksy: Uses street art as a medium to hold up a mirror to society and "speak truth to power".

• Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera: Used their art to convey raw, personal, and political truths regarding identity, pain, and society.

• Gerhard Richter: Explores the boundary between photography and painting, questioning how images capture or distort "truth".

• Michael Volpicelli: A contemporary artist who identifies his work as "The Eye of Truth".

Surrealist Dreamers

These artists, often associated with Surrealism, believed in tapping into the unconscious mind as a deeper, truer reality:

• Salvador Dalí: Master of "illusionistic realism" that unlocks the irrational and subconscious truth.

• René Magritte: Challenged conventional perception to reveal the mystery and hidden truth behind the mundane.

These artists all share the belief that art is not just a representation of the physical world, but a means of uncovering and communicating a deeper, often prophetic, reality.

As always thank you &

your thoughts & questions are welcome,

Richard

PRIDE SYMPOSIUM ALLEGORY 30”30” mixed-media

Art, Nature & Soul #110

I’ve not ever been one for roller coasters, that said the art business has always been a bit of a roller coaster. Sometimes you hit those highs, other times low, lows and one thing for sure you just keep , keeping on, moving forward…creating art, exhibiting it and making those collector connections when you can. I welcome commissions and have started 2026 with 5 on my easel for 3 different collectors, each having acquired pieces from me before, some several artworks.

Commissions offer certain challenges, the primary one bridging someone else’s vision with your own. This is why the number #1 priority is making sure the person knows & understands as an artist you do what you do and if they’re looking for something different, perhaps finding another artist to do the job is the ticket.,

This, 2 piece commissioned abstract is completed. Each piece is 20”x 40” mixed media gallery wrapped cotton duck. This collector has 2 other of my artworks in their collection, one a Chicago Theater piece in there Illinois home, the second an abstract for their Florida home and these 2 will be added to there as well. Here’s what they said when I texted an image of the new pieces…”Richard can’t tell you how much we love them…Can’t thank you enough. Can’t wait to hang them.” Richard & Mary P.

Another long time collector had chimed in on a post that was acknowledging that American Crow Homage had sold to a new collector, this being his second piece added to his Sperry collection.

Suzanne K.

Reminds me of VanGogh painting. What is the size of painting? Love this!

Richard R. Sperry

Suzanne K., it’s 30”x30” and just sold . He said the same thing. lol

Richard R. Sperry

Thank you.

Suzanne K.

May come into shop to talk to you about something similar.

Richard R. Sperry

Suzanne K. love to see you and talk art

So with further direction, it being 18”x14” with a bit more gold tones I set forth to paint it. When she came in to the gallery to choose a frame for it, she saw another of my artworks, Cliffs at Highland Light and asked if I could paint a smaller, 14”x 18” variation of it, so I did, with her adding both pieces to her collection. Sue is a long time collector of my artwork, going back over 20 years having purchased a piece from a series, enthusiastically received, the tree of life, drip artworks.

The other potential commission was for a couple that had acquired a piece, The Aragon, just before Christmas 2025. At that time she had expressed her like and interest in a serene & calming piece from my successful Meditations series. Only they wanted it a bit larger, 60”x40” and for their Wisconsin home.

I went through some of my photo references and found one immediately. After some weeks The piece was painted in my head and I knew I had to put in on canvas, so I did. Working diligently, it was completed at the end of January 2026. I photographed it and sent an image to her, her response was. “It’s beautiful but not what I’m envisioning for the space. Thank you for thinking of us and your consideration! Your talented.” Brenda C.

Its a piece I felt compelled to paint, so no worries here and I hope to give it another whirl down the road, as for now it will be showcased at the gallery, along with a few other beach pieces during our winter cold snap vortex here in Chicagoland.

What a great start to my 2026 painting year, I’m grateful for every challenge and gift given & received.

If you’ve ever had an idea or thought to have a commissioned piece done and my work aligns stylistically with your vision, feel free to contact me and discuss the possibilities. I’m easy to work with, love the challenges and look forward to making your vision a reality.

As always your question are welcome,

Richard

My life is a complete work of art and I won't deny one part of it support another. ~R. Sperry

‘Birds Of Paradise #1 & #2, mixed-media/ SOLD private collection

‘As a Crow Flies’ 14”x18” oil/ SOLD private colection

‘Cliffs’ 14”x18” oil/ SOLD private collection

Peaceful Easy Feeling 60”x40” oil available at Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop, Geneva Il.

Art, Nature & Soul #109

Have you ever asked yourself, why art? Since I was a child I’ve been compelled to express my life experiences through the visual arts. In fact all the arts have been utilized at one time or another. It seems to me that its been an attempt on my part to connect with others in a deeper sense, a profound universality of sorts. Recently I’ve had several occasions that have given me hope that it has been the case, at least for some.

In December 2025, I discovered this message in comments on my Instagram account today. Wanted to share because it was reassuring to know others 'Get Me'.

"Lovely in its intensity, your work channels expression with raw honesty, capturing emotion in a way that feels immediate and uncompromising. It is deeply evocative, allowing color, form, and gesture to speak directly to the viewer’s emotional core."

~Daniel Freaker, Portsmouth, U.K.

on this piece, Color Study #198, ‘Cabin’ 12”x12” oil

Another happening was when I painted a Holly leaf piece just after Thanksgiving 2025. Soon after I was contacted by an old high school mate asking for the details on it. He purchased it and I shipped it to him in Arizona. On New Years Day I saw in a FB post that Steve had passed on December 26th 2025, the day after Christmas. I wrote back in regards

This breaks my heart. I didn't know Steve well, but we were classmates and had several classes together, mostly English. With FB & social media, I've found myself reconnecting with family & friends. As it turned out 35+ years later we had more in common than realized, back in h.s. As an artist. I had painted a holly leaf piece, just after Thanksgiving, he had just purchased and received it on December 11th. He was happy, focused and in communication with me looking for the best place to hang it. He messaged me~

"I've retrieved it, and it's even lovelier than in the pictures you posted.

“Will do. I think (italicized) that I'm going to hang it near my desk so I can look at it repeatedly throughout the day.”

“The lighting in the space I had originally imagined it in is not good and doesn't show off the color and texture to its best advantage. When I figure out the best place for it and get it hung, I'll send you a photo.”

Thank you again!" ~Steve Y.

I find myself in a full on sob and I hope it had spoke to heart & mind. Peace, love & light, my friend.

And since then I’ve wondered why he had been compelled to acquire the piece, as he had been so ill for a few years and feel it must have spoke to his heart, an emotion and that we had connected.

Sometimes its in more basic ways, like the common love of an artist, Van Gogh, nature, a wheat field, a bird, the crow.

One of my collectors contacted me, regarding a piece on my website, “American Crow Homage’,

“Hope you are well... was just curious for a little more information on these pieces.” then

” This one reminds me so much of my favorite Van Gogh.” Travis W.

I responded~ “Van Gogh has been one of my life long loves and influences. Across the street from me was once a farm and every fall the crows would feed on its harvest. I created a patch in the foreground to give it a center.

Thanks for your interest in my work.” With that we chose a frame, he acquired it and shipped it out.

Interestingly others chimed in feeling and resonating a similar vibe. One was one of my longtime collectors who first acquired one of my artworks over 20 years ago. She has commissioned me to paint a somewhat smaller variation of the piece, for our common love of crows.

Its these and other similar connection that keep me going, compelled further to create those things of utter connection.

"Art, whether abstract or representational, like the night sky, invites us to imagine, participate and create stories. As we view and gaze endlessly, subtle changes in our perception and vision transform what we see, at the speed of light, in our mind's eye." ~Richard Sperry

“Richard Sperry, an American artist residing in Saint Charles, Illinois, paints his life as he experiences it. He defies categorization as merely an abstract painter, a landscapist, or a figurative artist. Instead, he finds inspiration in both internal and external mechanisms, compelling him to depict his thoughts, emotions, experiences, and existence itself through his art.

Sperry's paintings serve as a personal diary, catalog, and chronology of his life's events, reflecting six decades of personal and artistic growth. Each of the contemporary/abstract pieces are meticulously crafted, starting with an acrylic paint base and then layered with oil paint, oil pastel, ebony pencil, charcoal, oil stick, and 18k gold paint and leaf. The presence of the 18k leaf and an infinity symbol across his artworks serves as his signature, a trademark that distinguishes his work.

Through his unique artistic process and autobiographical expressions, Richard Sperry invites viewers into his intimate world, where every stroke carries the weight of his life's journey and the depth of his artistic vision.” -Circle Foundation for the Arts

Color Study #198, ‘Cabin’ 12”x12” oil

‘Holly Leaves’ 6”x6” oil in private collection

;American Crow Homage’ 31.5”x31.5” framed oil in private collection.

Art, Nature & Soul #108

I've long held a deep fascination for these Leviathans of the sea. They seem to hold an almost sacred place within the human psyche, a mythological one, perhaps even in the collective unconscious of mankind. In 1974 when the Disney film came out, 'Island at the Top of the World', my imagination was captured. I had long wanted to see them in person. So many films, Tv shows, both fiction and non, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Sea Hunt, & Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, were some favorites. having me wanting to swim alongside them. In 2012 I took my nieces to see the film, 'BIG MIRACLE', I decided I had to go on whale watch for my 50th b-day and did.

The film was about the Oct 7, 1988 CE: Operation Breakthrough. A real-life 1988 event where a small Alaskan town, a news reporter, and a Greenpeace activist unite with rival superpowers to rescue a family of gray whales trapped in Arctic ice, showcasing human cooperation and media attention for a cause. It's based on the book Freeing the Whales and depicts the unlikely alliance between locals, oil companies, and even the US and Soviet militaries to create breathing holes for the whales to reach open water. It was inspiring to watch so many different groups come together for a single common cause, seemingly so unimportant to the big picture, but was in fact the big picture, a lesson learned & shared. We humans have so much potential, if only we could be respectful, work well & play well together, more often.

I'm both fortunate & grateful to have been able to go on see them numerous times over the past 12 years, sometimes from the beach, others on the 15 Whale watches I’ve been on, thus discovering the North Atlantic Right Whale and following its migration path from St. Augustine Florida, (their calving grounds) to Cape Cod Massachusetts, (their feeding grounds). Each time has been a different kind of adventure, everything from seeing 10 different species altogether in the hundreds and hundreds, during an especially food abundant spring, hanging out with the very social & sentient Humpbacks to finding an entangled mother Humpback and her calf and staying with them until help arrived and set them free again. We've went to seminars and events with the Center for Coastal Studies Provincetown as well as attended a Right Whale Festival in Jacksonville Florida. We've also been most recently to the Mystic Seaport Museum, Whaling Exhibit, previously to the New Bedford Whale Museum numerous times, and to the one on Nantucket, as well, which holds some of the artifacts from the ESSEX, the real life adventure & happening that inspired Herman Melville's, Moby Dick. We've even been to Melville's home in the Berkshires. He's considered the first true American literary voice, more so than both Washington Irving & Nathaniel Hawthorne, who to my surprise had collection of Turner watercolors 5-6ish.

Ok, so I'm rambling now. Truth is I'm just taken by, fascinated by these vocal creatures, having listened to their voices on cd for near 2 decades, reminds me of pan pipes, so soothing and emotive. The very first whale watch I was on off Hyannis on the Cape. I never saw them, only smelled & heard them through an extremely dese fog, where sky & water were barely distinguishable. I have hopes of swimming with them someday. Anyway, here's one of several whale themed pieces I've done over the years.

'Save the Whale' 36”x18” oil, Image based on a photo from Secrets of the Whales Book by Brian Skerry

Kiss the Sky 30"x30" oil

The Visible 16"x40" oil 'Standing on a whale, fishing for minnows.'

'Plight of the North Atlantic Right Whale From Above' 24"x24" mixed media on panel

Art, Nature & Soul #104

What is beauty. Is it in the eye of the beholder? To be pretty, beautiful or sublime are all very different equations.

Several years ago an artist posted this. “Art is more than pushing paint around.” I disagreed wholeheartedly, as its exactly that & just that. How one goes about that though is more to his point, I suspect.

When I was a young person and just beginning to explore my likes in the art world, it was Da Vinci & Caravaggio. The more illustrated, the more realistic, I thought then and as a young person thought, “how pretty”. As I grew, my tastes gravitated to Dali, still more illustrate, but then shifted to van Gogh, and the impressionists & post impressionists and thought, “how beautiful”. In my young adulthood I grew as Pollock and other abstract expressionist showed up in my range & scope. Add Basquiat, some graffiti and later CY Twombly and it became the sublime in human visual expression. I love it all, always will, its about context and respect for me…bananas & duct tape included.

Not having a full academic training via college, I have spent my lifetime seeking info & experimenting. These color studies, usually 6”x6” or 12”x12” these days is where much of that raw energy & expression takes place. Its all fractals, pattern & chaos with me, as I try to fuse abstraction & representational subjects into one idea of expression.

This past year I’ve gotten a bit more loose, as if that’s possible. Here’s a small selection of my most recent studies. I don’t usually put them on my website. So occasionally post them in a blog. The center section to the far right or #6 is not available anymore, but the rest are, message me for titles, size and prices.

As always thank you for your interest,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #103

Over the decades, or should I say scores that I've been painting. There are certain milestones that occur. The first time you are juried into an exhibition, your awarded, your artworks appears in a magazine or a newspaper reviews your work, you get into a gallery, have a solo exhibit. One of the important ones, for a person who works a day job for a living, is that first sale and continued ones, those patrons and collectors that make it all possible. Others, still yet are when a couple that purchased a piece 20 years earlier track you down to acquire more of your artworks, another who's home caught fire, tracks you down for the sole purpose of letting you know the piece I painted survived and hangs in their new home or a childhood friend or family member shoots you a message with an image of an artwork you did when you were a child, a teen or in your 20's, that they've cherished & held on to all these many years.

One of the more difficult milestones is when you become aware that one of your early patrons or collectors has passed on, I've been aware of several in the past decade. Recently, I became aware of the passing of another collector, John & Carol A. He and his wife were supporters, going to my art events and exhibits, plus being collectors, having acquired 4 pieces early on, a quarter century ago. His wife had passed on about 7 years ago and recently he has joined her. Together they had amassed an art collection of 274 pieces, they had donated it to a local art organization who are auctioning off, most of the collection. The couple had gifted 1 of my artworks to a beloved niece, but the other 3 are part of the art auction. Its quite a thing to see your artwork as part of an estate auction, especially when you realize that it was these, as well as many other early patrons that have continued to support my artistic endeavors, that have made it all possible. So without further adieu, I say thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart, for all your likes & support over all these years, its more meaningful and treasured than you know. ~Richard

The artist as a young man

from left to right that define eras and were I created in a a decade chronologically in the first 10,20,30,40,50,60 and the now as we move toward 70.

Art, Nature & Soul #101

Building an abstract is very different from painting my impressionist or even my contemporary artworks. The latter 2 always have something more representational in them. I’m easily inspired by the world around me, as well as within me. As I’ve frequently stated, I paint my life as it unfolds. I’m out walking the pups and see a landscape I must paint, I’m at a concert and paint the marquee, I’m at the heart doctor and begin a contemporary piece with nothing but a cardio rhythm and build off it. A tree is a tree and its before me. A symbol or character is easily identifiable, as well. My abstract work is me totally in the moment expressing my more organic, spontaneous & connected universal viewpoint. Here, I’m going to take you through my process in 9 steps. In a Shakespearian 7 ages of man kind a way. It’s become a repeated theme in my work over the years, in a piece entitled ‘Wild Abandon’ I expressed the idea in 3 stages, although it doesn’t end.

People frequently ask, “What are you thinking about when you paint these abstract artworks?” I usually respond with some variation of fractals & chaos, the dominant patterns , ‘Mandelbrot set’ and the chaotic detours that changes within them. How all these patterns, echo upon each of us, throughout all life and across the universe, as a meaning of life statement, revealed in art. In other words my abstracts represent the cyclical nature of of life, death, and the interconnectedness of all beings, all life, our mortality, and everything. A metaphor of sorts, where somethings emerge others recess, from time to time within the ubiquitous layers. We all add or own color and texture for a time, even when we die our color still exists, but may fade from the big picture within the greater tapestry, until a later time, or as in my paintings, when the quality of the light shifts. With that, my abstract artworks have no beginning or end, as with the continuous nature of life.

My process simplifies and revealed top left to right, on the 9 paneled square grid. #1 I tone the painting that will be a complimentary color. #2 I usually put a very textured layer of Titanium white down, each step created patterns that guide me #3 more color and texture are added #4 I break out all my tools and knock down and build up creating the overall aesthetic #5 I choose the colors and the placement of the focal area #6 oil pastel is laid in enhancing the color, texture and line #7 a bit of graffiti using ebony pencil is added, words & symbols #8 I determine where to put the dramatic high key area utilizing the existing patterns #9 the 18karat gold leaf is put in followed by the large charcoal stick marks. Each step is an ongoing assessment of patterns and messages, throwing in a bit of chaos for good measure. Sometimes the process in a couple weeks, others a couple months. Like I show & tell viewers as the ponder the meaning within each piece, the messages and what you see will change throughout a day, a week, a month , a year depending on the type and quality of the shifts in the light around it…it’s a bit of a mood ring, I say, followed by 10 years from now you’ll see something in it you never knew was there.

I’ve stated this thought in some form repeatedly as its my mantra, my world view. 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, Divine Mind, Supreme Consciousness, or God.

Thanks, and as always your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

At the oil pastel stage of building,

My process in 8 reveals.

‘Matrix’ 36”x36” mixed media

Art, Nature & Soul #100

Fox River Art Ramble SAVE the DATE Saturday, June 7, 10-4pm CHICAGO themed artworks by Richard Sperry Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop 213 W. State St. Geneva, Il 60134

Having grown up in Elmhurst a mere 18 miles to downtown Chicago, I have a profound love for it. On a clear day I could see the city skyline from atop Behrens Hill in Elmhurst, near my home. The people, the culture, & the arts define for me the notion, I grew up on, of the American melting pot or as former president Jimmy Carter called it “the beautiful mosaic”. Recently I was downtown to see Twyla Tharp’s 50th anniversary celebration in dance at The Harris Theater. It was just before dusk, we had parked, crossed Michigan Ave, and were walking up Randolph to the theater when I had “obscure reference #205” a Mary Tyler Moore moment of wanting to twirl around, throw my hat up in the air and sing out “We’re going to make it after all…” Not having a hat on, I of course did not do this, but a big smile rose across my face looking up and about the city lights at dusk.

As a child we went there fairly often for various school or family events. When I was 16 and old enough to drive I could get downtown in 15 minutes at the right times of day or night. Now I’m about 35 miles out to the western burbs but can still get there in 45mins to an hour most times, plus the Metra train comes here too. Chicago has always represented “the possibilities” to me, still does and still has and is. The first Black president was raised in Chicago, more recently the first American pope was raised in Chicago and I hope with all my heart that JB Pritzker runs for president and wins the 2028 election making him the first person of Jewish descent to become president of the USA. This for me would be the ultimate trifecta, telling the world CHICAGOI IS. Now I’m not a Black American, Catholic or Jewish, but I recognize what good people are, which is not defined by a color, a religion or an ethnicity, but by "Good thoughts, good words, good deeds" a core principle found in ancient Zoroastrianism, but also a key ideal of all humanity.

The arts for me represent the best humanity has to offer creating narratives in paint, writing, dance & theater that transcend the things we sometimes allow to separate us as people of a world. Over the past 20 years its become more & more important to me to support the many voices and expressions wanting to be heard. We’ve been fortunate and able to explore multitude of venues from here to the surrounding suburbs and downtown Chicago. Don & I would go there for the clubs, film fest and to just walk along the beaches when we first met. These days its more the museums, concerts, theater & opera, dance, tours, Navy Pier and other cultural events that draw us there. I’ve always loved to paint the skyline, from the Sears/Willis tower to The Hancock, you can see it in my work over the past 20+ years. Sometime over the past 10 I started top paint the many venues we go to, as well. While I do paint en plein air, most of my work is painted in the studio alla prima, with a sense of urgency and directness of impression/expression.

My work tens to lean toward the contemporary/abstract/representational. Often times fused into a single notion and frequently separated out by degrees by my emotional state at a given time. Which is to say I try to paint my life as it unfolds in as timely a manner as possible as to capture not just the image but the feeling of the fleeting moments of my life. Below is a small sampling of my more recent adventures in Chicago. In the images below you can see several skylines, including one from a car driving in, 3 of the Salt Shed, a new & happening music venue, The Picasso, The Bean, the Chicago lighthouse, the Neaderlander &Goodman Theaters, as well as my favorite, The Chicago Theater, as well as the Aragon Ballroom, some architectural highlights, the PRIDE parade and my beloved Art Institute of Chicago. Many of my smaller color studies, not pictures here, will be there at the exhibition , as well.

Chicagoland, the only major city that extends its reach 35 miles out into the burbs. This past wekend I participated in Hands Across Chcagoland to to protest the current administrations polocies, & overreach regarding human rights, rule of law & the Constitution. An estimated 18000 people lined Ogden Avenue in the suburbs and 26th Street in Chicago on Sunday for the Hands Across Chicagoland protest. We were 2.

Stop by, check it out & say hi,

asc always, youe comments & questions are welcome,

Richard

24 CHICAGO themed artworks

Fox River Arts Ramble

Chicago Skyline tower to tower

Art, Nature & Soul #98

First I'd like to apologize for so many political posts over the past several years, but I simply can not sit idly by or in silence as this country & its people are bulldozed by the ill intentions & actions of a madman and his followers.

The so-called U.S. president posted an upside down pink triangle with a censor sign/ crossed out over it, as in to eliminate us, this on his social media platform. With 15 million LGBTQ+'s in this country alone, an extension of the 15 thousand that were in concentration camps, this was a huge misstep, massive. The upside down pink triangle was the identifying mark given to gaymen marked for "shame & extermination" in concentration camps during WWII, in the 1970's it was reclaimed with a green circle around it symbolizing a "SAFE-SPACE". It featured significantly, symbolically & profoundly when I was coming out in the 1970-80's. It has found a place in my current body of contemporary & abstract artworks over the past several years as the threat has again emerged from our own government. I recently received an award for a piece featuring the pink triangle and was interviewed regarding the artwork's meaning. Watch for my upcoming blog Art, Nature & Soul #98.

"Empathy" is the most basic of building blocks of a civilized world. It is only through the shared knowledge, information & feelings of others that our coalesced humanity exists." ~R.Sperry

(as inspired by Bruce who has passed on, becoming one with the universe.)

I’d been drawing and creating since early childhood, knowing art was it for me. In my early 20s as I came-out my artwork had a distinct Queer figurative aesthetic. As time passed and the world began to deal with reality and facts and my artwork didn’t need to scream I AM in everyone’s face, which was nice for a change. That said my artwork is autobiographical regardless, so current events have found me addressing them as they happen and it unfolds. Prior to the past several years my focus was landscape/cityscape/figurative/contemporary/abstract/renditions, and maybe once a year expressing a friendly reminder, that I Am, even though one of the first galleries I showed at and had my first solo exhibition at warned me that, “some people won’t buy your artwork if they know you gay.” I decided right then and there, I was going to just be me and the rest was their loss. Unfortunately and to my great disappointment and chagrin, I have found the galleries owners sentiment to be fact and not just in artwork sales. But being marginalized by some business’s, employers, friends & family, solely because I’m gay, Queer AF. as I prefer. Just imagine. I’m certain some of you can, maybe because we’re of similar tribes or maybe because you’re another ethnicity, religion, culture, sex or disability. I have spent the majority of my life watching most of these prejudices fall away when knowledge was introduced to the situ. My belief being that the lunatic fringe was still there but just on the fringe, not a threat. It’s to my greatest disappointment in humanity that the lunatic fringe has emerged again, dominated and threatened to undo a solid 50 years of world wide civilized cultural advancement. Its with these current events that my artwork and writing has been focused on addressing these things and more that I typically do with more subtlety.

I was interviewed after receiving a Juror's Choice Award for 'Urban Mosaic', by the Circle Foundation for the Arts, France. If you're interested in knowing more about this piece, my thoughts & process, click on the link provided.

"I'm at the corner of walk and don't walk", in the immortal words of my grandfather Clyde Virgil Sperry.

There's much layering of symbolism, mythology & meaning going in it that most wouldn't see at first glance, especially seeing it in a photo form.

Hello Richard,

We are excited to let you know that your interview is now live on our website.

https://circle-arts.com/25-interview-richard-r-sperry/

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, we think our readers will enjoy getting a glimpse into your creative mind!

Let's remain in touch for everything else.

Best and soon,

The CFA Team

Read a recent Q&A with the artist

Talk to us about your work featured here. What are the main themes and ideas you explore in it?

Currently in the USA and around the world, its become increasingly difficult to find safes spaces for the many and various marginalized peoples of the world. The upside down pink tringle came out of WWii and it being within a green circle came out of the 1970's emerging and symbolizing a "Safe Space". In this piece their are 3 green circles none of which protect and circle the triangle as we are in a danger zone internationally. The triangle itself is set in a crossroads. While it's difficult to see in a photo , there are numerous words and symbols written & drawn into it, each representing the struggle for humanity and civility.

Describe your creative process.

Ideas are easy for me, as every day life inspires me. Current events, a walk in the woods, my every day life as I experience it. Once I decide on the size, I typically do a complimentary acrylic base and build everything from there. I then choose a single thought, idea or image to build off of. In this case it was the pink triangle. With oil paint I'll put in the primary image and usually adding complimentary shapes around it. Using ebony pencil I draw and write in the words and symbols that pertain to the overall idea of the piece. each artwork whether abstract, contemporary has an infinity sign in it, this to repeat my basic thoughts on life. Now building off the composition with oil pastel for dynamics, black charcoal for contrast and my signature 18k gold leaf, to completion.

What inspires or influences your work?

My paintings serve as a personal diary, catalog, and chronology of my life's events, reflecting six decades of personal and artistic growth.

What do you consider the strongest aspect of your work?

Whether it's my abstract, contemporary or representational artworks, each are inspired, fluid and free associative and raw. , The mixed media layering is something I came up with over a life time of experimentation. Each of the contemporary/abstract pieces are meticulously crafted, starting with an acrylic paint base and then layered with oil paint, oil pastel, ebony pencil, charcoal, oil stick, and 18k gold paint and leaf. The presence of the 18k leaf and an infinity symbol across his artworks serves as his signature, a trademark that distinguishes his work.

What message or emotion do you hope viewers take away from experiencing your art?

I hope the audience makes an emotionally and visceral connection with my work , then makes it part of their own journey, in which we are connected.

What is the biggest challenge for an artist? What is the hardest part of this job?

I seek a world audience and want to make those connection via my artwork. I have more ideas then time and space, so I always feel a sense of urgency.

How do you balance tradition and innovation?

My works been gradually moving toward a more abstract realistic convention. This to merge both traditional ideas and approaches as well as my need to be my own visionary.

What is the most rewarding part of being an artist?

I love to see and hear a person response to my artwork, watch them create their own stories and watch the emotional connection happen. I feel more connected to those persons, even when sometimes its a negative reaction.

What does "good art" mean to you? What makes a piece of art great?

Anything the speaks to a persons very being and depth of their soul. A great piece of art speaks to the masses profoundly of universal connection, no matter what the image is.

What is the role of the artist today?

To speak to world events and universality… regardless of the genre.

Below are 8 recent artworks and commentaries on current events, here in the U.S.A. From top left to right then down, 1. Is a comment on the California fires 2025 and the current presidents refusal to send support, in favor of burning it down, as both Canada, Mexico and the indigenous fire fighters lent their help. 2.An abstract work and commentary on Resistance, as election 2024 was underway 3.Intentions and assertions, that people are people, that is all 4. A recent Pink Triangle piece that is the focus of this blog piece and article 5. A pint Triangle piece where I was addressing the Return of the Pink Triangle, Silence=Death, Safe-Space, early 2024 6.A Patti Smith concert we attended at the Salt Shed Chicago where she performed People Have The Power 7. The Blue Wave we had hoped for as the ocean is made of drops 8.Painted the first 2 weeks after T took office in 2025, it’s title and our shared horror experienced explain my thoughts, “Erasures for the Red, white & Blue”.

“CHOOSE compassion and courage.” ~rev. Scott Hull

Your questions & comments are welcome,

Thank you

Richard

URBAN MOSAIC 60”x40” mixed media

Art, Nature & Soul #92

"Art is the medium of visionary soothsayers, speaking the truths of humanity" ~R. Sperry

I’m nothing if not persistant… relevant is, as relevant does, see me, feel me, touch me, fullstop.

I had known about part 2 at Wrightwood 659, but the exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary art was recently found info. So, I got a thing, a thought in my head and persued it, as the limits we create for our selves are in not doing, not in doing. So, I began to go through me archives/storage for a painting I had done in 1989. 35 years ago. How i thought, how I saw and expressed myself, muchless my skill level were very different, still this pieces spoke volumes on, not just me, but the world we lived in especially here in the USA & the Chicago area, during my coming out and the HIV/aids epidemic.

We are here. Incredibly important & I'm looking forward to them both. We have 2 queer art events coming in Chicago 2025. Ones at Wrightwood 659, The First Homosexuals: Global Depictions of a New Identity, 1869-1930 and the other at the Museum of Contemporary Art, City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago, Jul 05, 2025 - Jan 25, 2026.

Assistant Curator,

I recently became aware of an upcoming exhibit at the MCA,  City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago. I grew up in Elmhurst, Il. and graduated High School in 1982. I was the Bi guy then and while the HIV/Aids crisis was taking its foothold in gay communities across the American/World society.  I married two different women, soon after h.s., me still playing my bi-guy persona, both of whom knew I was inclined toward men. The marriages were short lived, soon after and by the time I was 21-22 I met the man who I have now lived 38 years of my life with. 

When I came OUT, it was in your face OUT, and my artwork reflected that sentiment. In 1988-89' there were several events that prompted this piece. The death of art photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from Aids complications and the attempted censorship of his work at a major exhibition, the painting of former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in drag, plus the performance art piece, regarding freedom of speech, where as an American flag was placed on the floor and the viewers were asked to walk across it to sign in on a guest book.

My work was more surreal and of a sexual theme, at the time, as I was a huge fan of Dali. I brought it and another dozen like artworks to an Art Gallery called 'World Tattoo', Chicago in an attempt to gain my foothold in the art world. It was reviewed and I was told they liked it, but it wasn't really the kind of work they were looking for at the time, as it didn’t fit in with the theme, but, come back in 6 months. Being a young man, it was devastating. It took a decade to brush myself off and begin again. My husband and I decided to integrate into the community as a whole, rather than do the gay ghetto thing, both for basic survival as well as feeling that we could do better showing the straight world who we were and what we were about, to lessen the fear of the unknown. My artwork also began to lean that way, as well. I still do a fair amount of queer themed art, but the body is more contemporary representational & abstract as a statement on how we think, feel, see, as fractals, chaos & the oneness of being.

Though it was painted, "Freedom of Speech, My Foot", 35 years ago, I feel this piece may be relevant too and fit in with the vision of your upcoming exhibit and I hope that you do as well. Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes 40”x40” mixed media on canvas, which is on my website may be a perfect complimentary juxtaposition, if you were to showcase a then & now, of the artist. I spent a lot of time in Chicago growing up and still go there 1-3 times a month for art, museum, theater, opera, music or other cultural events & I love Chicago.

  “Richard Sperry, an American artist residing in Saint Charles, Illinois, paints his life as he experiences it. He defies categorization as merely an abstract painter, a landscapist, or a figurative artist. Instead, he finds inspiration in both internal and external mechanisms, compelling him to depict his thoughts, emotions, experiences, and existence itself through his art.

Sperry's paintings serve as a personal diary, catalog, and chronology of his life's events, reflecting nearly six decades of personal and artistic growth. Each of the contemporary/abstract pieces are meticulously crafted, starting with an acrylic paint base and then layered with oil paint, oil pastel, ebony pencil, charcoal, oil stick, and 18k gold paint and leaf. The presence of the 18k leaf and an infinity symbol across his artworks serves as his signature, a trademark that distinguishes his work.

Through his unique artistic process and autobiographical expressions, Richard Sperry invites viewers into his intimate world, where every stroke carries the weight of his life's journey and the depth of his artistic vision.” -Circle Foundation for the Arts

"Art, whether abstract or representational, like the night sky, invites us to imagine, participate and create stories. As we view and gaze endlessly, subtle changes in our perception and vision transform what we see, at the speed of light, in our mind's eye."

My work is featured in the international, contemporary, Artist Closeup Magazine, Amsterdam,as well as has received a few honors via the Circle Foundation for the Arts, France, who has also, awarded several pieces, in recent years. My bio and CV are on my website.

 Thank you for your consideration,

Richard Sperry

www.sperryfineart.com

I had sent this out in three emails and MCA responded, later the same day:

Thank you for your email. While we do not accept any unsolicited submissions or donations, our curators are out looking at art and performances constantly around the city, the country, the world, and are looking for works that stand out for their originality and relevance to our current conditions. If you would like to call our attention to a particular exhibition or performer, please feel free to send an exhibition card to the curatorial department:

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

220 E Chicago Ave

Chicago, IL 60611

Thank you,

MCA

So now I’ve sent a hard copy and my exibition/business card. From the time I saw the Christina Quarles exhibition 2021-22 I began to entertain and set goals. Then about 6 months ago I set my sights on being an exhibiting artist here MCA. Now then I’m well aware some will think, What an Ego, others perhaps, That boy has Moxy, as for me, well, I simply believe in myself and that all things are possible when you put your mind to it. As for now, so it goes & I wait with baited breath.

Thank for your support and as always your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

A small selection of figurative artworks over the past 40 years

The life we've created

Freedom of Speech, My Foot 36"x 48" oil on canvas (1989)

. Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes 40”x40” mixed media on canvas (2021)

Art, Nature & Soul #88

This was the first time I built & created one of my contemporary abstracts/ absrtact realism pieces in public. It’s usually a more solitary endeavor. It was an interesting challenge and exercise. I had several conversations about my process along the way, so here’s the inside story.

I had a very large canvas created, so big I couldn’t get it home in my vehicle. So I began, the first step was to put 8 layers of acrylic paint and inerference colors down, a while back. First coat was in a rusty iron oxide followed by several olive mixed with a gloss medium & varnish that’s multi directionally applied while water is splashed at it and tactfully removed just before it dries. to create a pattern, somewhat of a controlled chaos. Once this has been done in an organic drip & splatter way, the rhythm of the piece is there, determined, and just waiting for me too listern to its next direction. It was decided I’d do a live demo on building an abstract painting it over the last week or two of the event. The stage was set and I had been playing around with a thought & idea for several months.

I knew theme was to be figurative in nature. I began looking through photos of people, at first it was going to be 3, but soon after I landed on 5 and that it would be in an outdoor setting. Eventually I landed on the idea of a wilderness rock climbing, asysiphis thing of sorts, idea and created a compostion in my head. A lot of the preliminary work goes into the thinking out of the compostion then the approach that will best convey my idea. The thing about contemporary abstract realism is I know what my vision is, but never know for sure what others will see. Fortunatey, I love when they are engaged in a work and create their own stories & narratives surrounding it.

I started early the first day so I could concentrate and be sure I got the intitial form in place as desired, this was crucial for me. It was accomplished in prussian blue, indigo blue & white oil paint, with palette knife, scratching tool & tissues. The next session was to give more form, color and texture, again using a variety of palette knives & scraffitto. Scraffitto is my fasvorite part and its utilized from beginning to end of my process to reveal the previous layers. Session 3 involves ebony pencil primarily, where as words, symbols (where I add the infinity sign that apeears in all these type artworks) & line are given throughout the compostion. Session 4 involves scribbling in oil pastel over the entirity of the piece to give movement, dimension & mass, near the end I do more scratching & scraffitto in areas that appear too solid. I like my color broken so your eye in forced to average the information in your minds eye, from a distance, but appears as mini abstract pieces close up. The 5th session includes a careful and selct redoing of all of the above, wheras toward the end I put in 5 blocks of color to help create the focal area. The 6th session is mostly lots of scraffitto to erase and some amount of oil pastel to add back on to give the desired definition to the piece. The 7th sitting or standing was giveing selected broken line to the piece, more scraffitto and finally adding the 18k gold leaf. The 8th and final day is adding and taking away from the piece until it says complete. Along the way I’m constantly looking at the piece, taking photos and accessing it to see where it leads me, until I sign it and its completed, finis’.

Titles for me begin at the start. At first, after the acrylic layes I thought ECHOE, then soon after The Sublime & the Rediculous. As I analized the figues, there meaning to me and what I was intending to convey, which is the universiality, the connectedness of life, & the oneness of all, I thought LGBTQ, as its PRIDE month thing. I dismissed it as too on the nosey and moved on to the five elements: earth, eind, fire, water & metal, but honed in on the 5 senses: vision,. hearing, smell, taste & hearing, closer still but not it. I began to think about mythology and the Muses, but they’re 7 or 9 of them, finally I figured it out and decided on, 5 GRACES: gratitude, resilence, aspiration, courage & empathy. That all happened as I intially blocked in the 5 figures and this single thought guided me to its completion.

One person asked, “where do you get your ideas & inspiration”, I replied , I have more ideas, than time.”. The thing is that how I live my life connects the dots of inspiration and I free asociate my way to the next thing. My daily walks, the music I listen to and seek, the films & theatrer, then I’ll be reading a book and and an idea strikes me, or something says and sometimes it’s an acccumulation of all of the above plus some that I cannot explain. I have a message, a life, a world view and I want to convey my thoughts on it, through words and pictures, so I do.

And so I repeat…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 and apparently the unbearable oneness of being...

‘5 Graces’ 57”x63” mixed media

5 Graces

Art, Nature & Soul #87

Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop

Presents

Featured Artist

Richard Sperry

SO THIS IS 60~
A CELEBRATION IN ART
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Da3iyrVrU&t=211s 

(click on link to watch video)

"Art, whether abstract or representational, like the night sky, invites us to imagine, participate and create stories. As we view and gaze endlessly, subtle changes in our perception and vision transform what we see, at the speed of light, in our mind's eye." ~Richard Sperry

“Richard Sperry, an American artist residing in Saint Charles, Illinois, paints his life as he experiences it. He defies categorization as merely an abstract painter, a landscapist, or a figurative artist. Instead, he finds inspiration in both internal and external mechanisms, compelling him to depict his thoughts, emotions, experiences, and existence itself through his art.

Sperry's paintings serve as a personal diary, catalog, and chronology of his life's events, reflecting nearly six decades of personal and artistic growth. Each of the contemporary/abstract pieces are meticulously crafted, starting with an acrylic paint base and then layered with oil paint, oil pastel, ebony pencil, charcoal, oil stick, and 18k gold paint and leaf. The presence of the 18k leaf and an infinity symbol across his artworks serves as his signature, a trademark that distinguishes his work.

Through his unique artistic process and autobiographical expressions, Richard Sperry invites viewers into his intimate world, where every stroke carries the weight of his life's journey and the depth of his artistic vision.” -Circle Foundation for the Arts

An exhibition of 60 artworks will be on display throughout,

May 8-June 8, 2024

Saturday, June 8 is the ART RAMBLE, stop by meet the artist, 9-5pm.

Come on by, Enter to Win~ a $500. Value

‘Morning Meadow’ 14”x14” framed oil

Plus, you’ll find 1000’s of artworks by 100’s of artists in all genres & styles on display for your enjoyment & consideration.

60 pieces for your enjoyment & consideration

some of my favorites to have created.

Enter to Win, in person, at the gallery,

A 500$ Value

Morning Light 14”x14” framed oil

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