Art, Nature & Soul #94

December 21, 2024

A long time customer approached me about doing a commissioned piece of her pup. A client and after 25 years I’d call a friendly acquaintance, yeah friends as we’ve shared many a more private and emotional aspects of our lives with each other. I’ve been assisting her with art, custom framing & design consultations over these many years, it’s my day job, bread & butter. She had acquired one of my color study abstracts a couple years ago and had been inquiring about me doing an artwork of her pup Millie or maybe one of the 2 of them over the past 8 months or so while we had been redoing her home decor. Honestly I’m always a bit nervous about doing commissions. I always want to make sure the client and the artists are a good match and even with that I usually let the customer know that we can direct but need to let the artist do what they do. It can be a tricky slippery slope to say the least.

I had taken several photos of Millie once when I was delivering and hanging some art and painted it for fun, she’s a sweet adorable pup. Then another time when her interior designer was there. she gave me a treasured photo of she and Millie. My people tend to be more stylized and emotive capturing their essence beyond simple likeness’s. We spoke later and she decided she wasn’t comfortable having her portrait hung about the home, more modest than that. She had taken numerous photos of just Millie and showed me them. I scanned them and asked her to send me 4 of them, later asking which was her favorite expression wise of the photos she sent me that one too. She indicated it was going to be hung in the sunroom where its more playful, light and fun. The photos had one of Millie’s toys in it, some of the fabrics and and wallpaper designs and colors. We spoke and I toyed with adding the pups toy as a fun detail but after some thought decided against putting it in the final painting. The toy is a stuffed rust orange dog and while I liked the complimentary color aspects decided with my style it could be a confusing element, as it could be seen as another dog rather than a toy, as I’m not a realist painter.

A size was decided upon, for the space and I toned the canvas in a warm Indian Yellow. I put down a layer of titanium white, an unbleached titanium white and blended an indigo blue over that using both brush and palette knives. Going to work wet in wet I knew the pose would be easy enough, even with the foreshortening of the body, but nailing the expression and sparkle in the pups eyes would be essential to the success of the piece. My work is all free hand as its of utmost importance to capturing the subjects personality. It would be easy enough to trace, copy, grid or project an image and then paint it, but I do not consider those approaches creating original art but tools used either by students learning or mechanical reproduction techniques. I blocked the pup in the space, using palette knife which is my primary tool, layering in color to create shape. Next was getting that nose, mouth and eyes in…the personality of the piece. Getting that sparkle & playfulness would be essential and I knew to avoid drawing them in, making sure I did indeed paint them in. I immediately knew I had nailed it and and could breath again, relief, the rest would be detailing the work. I used the colors, patterns and other elements in the photos to coordinate the rest to her home in my contemporary abstract impressionist style.

I had completed the commissioned piece thoroughly modern “Millie” today and sent a photo of it to the client. She texted back, “I love it ! Can’t wait to see it in person.” So grateful! Life is good.

She, the client, came into the gallery to see the commissioned piece. I was immediately put at ease by her reaction of brief tears, joyous praise and a hug, followed by the words, “My Millie” & some clapping. We chose and ordered a custom frame, but she wanted to bring it home and hang it up for family to see over the holidays. This morning she sent me this photo of the artwork, hung in its intended space in the sunroom. I felt success, relief and grateful. Doing commissions can be stressful as you’re trying to meet someone else’s vision with your own unique one, magic!

Then the next morning the person who commissioned me to paint "Millie" messaged me saying her sister in law just saw the portrait, loved it and may be contacting me to do a commission of her pup, as well. Then later in the afternoon a gentleman who had stopped by yesterday, came by with his wife today, purchased 4 pieces of art for his new office, 3 were mine, unexpectedly. Feeling grateful & blessed at the moment. What a week!

Shakespeare Theater, Water Tower Place, Chicago & Arcada Theater, St. Charles, which I completed earlier this week.

*NOTE~ This mostly, happened in a 36 hour period, a commissioned artwork details finalized, another couple that had visited the gallery 6 weeks before decided that one of my abstracts is the piece they’ve been looking for, for 3 years, another couple purchased one of my artworks 18 years earlier tracks me down from their home in Virginia, purchase another artwork and I’m getting ready to ship out, another potential commission, and 3 other artworks had sold to a local business office. I had just received notice from a local exhibit, the Norris Cultural Center, that my work had been accepted, had submitted 3 more to be juried for an exhibition in a Chicago gallery, Jackson Junge, next summer, was working on a very large abstract piece to submit to an international competition through Circle Foundation for the Arts and had just received my copy from Artist CloseUp Magazine that had featured a recent contemporary figurative piece of mine in it last months edition, had, just recently, out on a limb, sent artwork for review to the MCA, Chicago, when I think to myself for the first time in my 60 year old life, “I just may be an artist.” Life is good!

As always your thoughts & questions are welcome.

Grateful for art lovers, thank you,

Richard

Sketch of the client and her beloved pup

Art, Nature & Soul #93

November 20, 2024 in contemporary art, impressionism, modern art, paintings

I’ve been painting these Mini-Me’s, for almost a decade, most are in a 12”x12” gesso board format. I have a drying rack/wood box that holds about 20 that makes traveling with them easy. The immediacy and directness make them about as honest as it gets, there’s simply no time to over think them, which for me makes them especially attractive to paint. I allow myself a special grace & fearlessness, playing with color, texture and composition on them.

From top, left to right, my inspirations were in translating the vibe into paint in my own expressive way. Some were painted on location, others from a photo. The first is a farm set off in the distance in Illinois, #2, is Ptown, front and center, from the Atlantic ocean, with the Pilgrim monument towering over the scene, when we’re visiting we stay very near it, #3 can be any road but this is what it looked like as we entered Colorado, #4 the park across the street from my home at sunset, a film we watched provided inspiration for #5, #6 is mid fall at the park I walk daily with the pups, #7 was painted at Nambe Falls, NM, #8 after seeing Echo and the Bunnymen perform at the Riviera in downtown Chicago, I snap a quick photo which provided an interesting take on a nocturne and ambient light, #9 was painted at Escalante Trail, at Cerllios State Park in Santa Fe NM. Like I say, whatever I’m doing and thinking about is what I paint. My artworks are a chronology of my life happenings.

These pieces provide me with a way to experiment with color, texture, composition and all the design elements utilized in my larger artworks. They’re represent, in part, my continuing education. They can be framed or set on an easel as is and they make wonderful gifts. Several people have acquired 3 or 4 at a time to create groupings, 2 have done a 4 seasons composition with them. I know where I’ve painted each of them and what my inspiration was, but I love when someone says one, it triggers a memory of one of their happy places and they make it their own.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief insight to my world & artwork. As always your questions & thoughts are welcome.

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #92

October 10, 2024 in abstract realism, contemporary, modern art

"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

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 #91

September 05, 2024 in contemporary, modern art, impressionism

FUBAR~ The neighborhood, has an unpresidented number of flags flying, mostly the American, a on rare occasion a Trump flag. The olympics are just over so now a 2024 National Champions, & Chicago ones are out too, as well as some PRIDE flags. I walk the neighborhood and parks often and have noticed another about a block away. Its hung on a flag pole off their front porch and its seen better days, it’s shredded and flapping its battled scarred fabric in the wind. Thing is it was never carried in battle, nor do I believe the person is unaware of its condition. No, I think they’re making a statement about the current state of the USA. Yes, its a sad state of affairs when a former president has been allowed to try and overthrow his government, when he’s toppled the rule of law and tipped the balance of power in a dangerous way, and thus far is getting away with it. The standard protocol for dealing with an American flag is this condition is to burn it and replace it. I bought them a new one and left it in a gift box on their porch stating only this, in a brief note, “ I see that your, tattered and torn ensign still flies. Let this gift be a symbol of hope and its glory continue to be restored. Your neighbor” and I can only hope and wait that this is true and the outcome is blue wave.

I cannot wait for the time when I can get back to just posting my art, positive vibes & other beautiful things. The last 8-9 years with a certain person creating chaos and wreaking havoc every time he opens his mouth and everywhere he goes, has made it near impossible to go about life in that manner. While many are sitting on the sidelines and not speaking up or out, I simply cannot, it's unconscionable for me to even consider, regardless of the repercussions. With that said, I'll be brief, direct and as to the point as I can be. I don't want to be rude, insulting or demeaning to anyone here and believe me when I say, I would fight for your rights and freedoms, as I have always had to fight for mine, just so long as those rights don't inflict, impose, impinge or hurt anyone else's, beliefs, rights or free will. I'd like you to look closely at these flags and understand what they symbolize & represent, it should be obvious to most of us. A history will be written about the times we've been living in, over the next 25, 50-100 + years, and the question will be, where was your alliance and which flag will you have stood beside? The flag on the left stands for "We the people...", all the USes, “a beautiful mosaic”, former president Jimmy Carter states, that represents all the people of the United States of America. The flags on the right, Trump, Hitler, Putin, & Davis, are of a more threatening & sinister background, intent and mission, it's about the Me's. They’re usually driven by a calculated maniputlation to power & money, led by a few, a cabal or oligarchy of sorts, and followed by a group who haven't quite realized they're merely pawns in that quest & game, of serving those few. I stand with and by the American Flag on the left and everything it stands for, the USes, the WE, in We the people... It's an awful lot of work, to have a balance of power and scale of justice, but it serves & strives to be a fair and just nation, for all its people. I believe in us all, even at times when it’s so very difficult, difficult because it seems at times, we're not seeing or meeting each other's needs, WE need to see the me in you or you in me, that makes the USes. So please let's try harder to see and work for each other’s well-being. Vote your conscience, but understand who you vote for, the flag you stand with, and the outcome will have either a profoundly good one for all or a seriously negative one for most of us. Thus far, America has always been great! That's it, it's all I've got. Let freedom ring and let love guide us.

The United States of America is a Republic.

What is the difference between Republican and democracy?

By definition, a republic is a representative form of government that is ruled according to a charter, or constitution, and a democracy is a government that is ruled according to the will of the majority. Although these forms of government are often confused, they are quite different.

FIRST THEY CAME

First they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me.

By Martin Niemöller

I had decided to paint the neighbors flag, as its hung as a reminder and record of current events & happenings. Art should reflect in someway the times it was created. I had a pad of 9”x12” linen oil painting paper and decided to translate it there, using ebony pencil & oil paint. I left it raw & incomplete, as a message of hope and our ability to rebuild.

As always your thoughts & questions are welcome,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #90

August 20, 2024 in contemporary, impressionism, modern art

I started doing more architectural pieces over the past decade as I had decided to paint my life as it unfolds. Meaning simply, whatever is happening in my life, happens on canvas, the ultimate diary of my life. So rather than seeking things to paint, I seek a life well lived and paint it. With that the many museums, marquees of the many concert & theater venues have become part of my subject matter.

We had went to the Goergia O’Keefe, My New Yorks exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago the end of July 2024. I’m always inspired and influenced seeing others artworks. When I think of O’Keefe, I think flowers, however these were geometric abstracts based on her time and views while living in NY in the 1920s. Her vantage point was either looking up at these immense strutures & towers or looking down and across at them from her apartment. Her line were crisp as many abstract artists are. I’m always playing in the lost and found edges areana, more as a life statement on connectness.

Several weeks later we had booked a architecturial tour down the Chicago River and out onto Lake Michigan with the pups toward the beginning of August 2024. Besides my cell and its camera I usually travel with my ipad and 35mm cameras to capture lots of photo references. While I plein air paint when I can, I usually paint more in the home studio, which atthis point is my entire home, lol. While its true plen air painting is all the rage these days, I’m more concerned with observation, memory, emotion and conveying these things in a matter-of-fact way, as well as with a certain kinetic directness.

I took near 100 photos of the city and had lots of ideas from which to paint. Many were expected compositions, however one stood out above the others. It reminded me of a piece from the O’Keefe exhibit entitled, CITY NIGHTS 1926. While hers was symetrical, my photo was more asymetrical as I like. While it wasn’t my favorite piece from the exhibit, there was something attractive in its simplicitiy, it’s line & blocks of color, that I admired, not at all how I paint. Like I said earlier though, I’m inspired by and influenced by a great many artists, both living & dead. I tend to utilize parts and then translated them ala Sperry. With this in mind This photo of the new Millenium building, The Mather, plus the London Gurantee building, provided the subject on a decent sized, 24”x36” canvas, I intended to use for scale.

Of late I’ve been more mixed media for my representaional works too, where oils had ben the standard. I use mixed media on my more abstract & comtemporary artworks, until several years ago while at the MONET exhibit at the AIC I learned and observed the many months of layerying he’s built up on his paintings. I loved the sophisticated use of color and especially how our eye averged the colos and texture from a distance. I thought about how most plen air artists, including myself tend to paint a piece alla prima, in one sitting of 1-4 hours. Then they may tweak a detail here or there in the studio, how different the results, I thought.

As stated I like to work quickly, to convey energy & movement in my art, and since my abstract & comtemporary works are mixed media have been experimenting around with it in my more representational works too. I love the fusion of media and had decided to apply the same process to this Chicago piece as well. The synergy was incredable.

I layed down an acrylic base coat of Indian Yellow, then layed down a coat of titanian white with a pinch of blue added. afterward I began blocking in shapes of the buildings in oil, utlizing both palette knife and scratching tools. I like to keep it loose as I’m not trying to illustrate an architecture, but paint the buildings according to my emotion of the day. I work quickly and added some detail, the refelction of the Mather Building tower as reflected in the new Millie builing as juxtaposed by the reflection of the Lonondon Guarantee Buildiong was key for me. I let it dry over night and in the second sitting added some ebony pencil for line, did more sgraffitto for movement and depth. Allowed it to dry throughout the day and went beck in with oil pastel and a final enhancement of oil in the pure color form.

Hope you enjoyed this journey and as always your questions & comments are welcome.

Richard

Photo translation into mixed media painting

photo capture from a boat on the Chicago River

Art, Nature & Soul #89

July 15, 2024 in modern art, outsider, indie

Dear Diary,

Thing is, we've been working & fighting for our basic human rights as well as others in the prejidice spectrum, most of our lives. It makes me wonder, who will be my Anne Frank house, then secondly, when I’m gone who will be there for you, when so many have never had to work or fight for a thing in their lives, muchless the basics, of equality & respect. Can you even begin to imagine?

Don & I made a choice to live in the burbs and blend in with the diverse community as a whole. We could have moved into a more LGBTQ+ friendly and accepting area but we opted for choice 1, thinking in part if people saw us and got to know us, their preconceptions about gay people might soften, grow & change. I sometimes wonder if we made the right choice. Especially lately, I wonder if we’re not urgently needed elsewhere, i.e. HRC, Trevor Project, or the like.

Recently I was having a conversation about Project 2025 and some of its potential effects on the LGBTQ community. The person I was talking to, seemed indifferent and expressed it in a “I'm a (striaght) white male in America '' as if to say it doesn't affect me and so what, adding, “apparently, it’s what the people want.” To which I rebutt with a,” not the majority, not the popular vote”. Then proceeded to tell me that when the whole idea of gay marriage was coming into focus his father was concerned about the gays getting health insurance together, as gay people have hiv and it will cost him more, as if all and only gay people have hiv. And by the way the LGBTQ makes up about 14 million persons in the U.S., 500,000. of people with hiv are from this community which is about 70%, of all persons living with it, 30% is non LGBTQ persons. During this conversation I brought up the fact that his mother soon after, Don & I, got married had approached me and asked why it had to be ‘marriage’ as if we had somehow diminished or taken something away from her. I tried to soft sell it, by illustrating just our basic human rights, ones they have, to see and make decisions about each others health in a crisis and other legal & logical things, she just turned it into a logisticall thing to appease herself. The person I was having the conversation with had weeks earlier in another conversation, alluding to the notion that my 38 year old relationship with Don wasn't equal to a marriage in general. This didn't go over well with me and I began to illustrate the similarities, but stopped short as I was now getting infuriated as I had recalled another conversation a few years earlier, where a young nephew had also, who diminished our relationship claiming we didn't have the same responsibilities therefore it wasn't equal, of course he has no idea or any notion of our responsibilities, life, service or dedication to family, friends, humanity or much else, about us , what we do or who we are. Ask more questions, make less assumptions, but know this, one actually needs to listen and comprehend the information given.

Can you just imagine the audacity, the utter hurt and pain this kind of ignorance causes. You know people for 25+ years or their entire lifetime and they not only don't see you as equal, but as less than, & inferior. My pain turns to a self preservation type of anger, pretty quickly. I remembered numerous similar incidents…i.e., a person I was in business with claiming we weren’t equal, a conservative religious couple firing me because I was gay, another firing me because there’s just some things he can’t except, other workplace discrimination, being told, by a gallery owner, at one of my first solo exhibits nearly 25 years ago, “some people won’t by your art if they know your gay”, one of our cars being stolen, dumped a few blocks away riddled full of bullets, police did nothing but let me know the vehicle was found, when we first moved here 30 years ago, a teenage neighborhood boy running around calling us faggots, 15 years ago, my father not wanting us to get an apartment where he did the a/c maintence, because it could effect his business, feeling let down when you come out at 20ish and another, close to you, opts to stay in the closet, leaving you fend for yourself against the ridicule of friends & family, being verbally betrayed by another family member publically, one in which we had put our lives on hold for years to help them out, during one of the most difficult times in their lives, losing contact with a best friend & a cousin for couple decades after being told don’t come around with your partner as their boyfriends/husbands wouldn’t be ok with it, both of them are not in those relationships today, and another family member telling us they’ll be praying for us, and hoping that we’ll see the light. These are just a few highlights of hate+ ignorance=pain, we have endured during our 38 year relationdhip & my 60 year lifetime. Remembering and writing this down, brings back the hurt and I feel momentarily bitter again, but I tell myself, don’t live here, yet they are part of me. Most of the people I know, know nothing of these things, I keep it to myself for the most part, stuff it down and move on.

Even so, I flashed to a conversation I had with a friend I had worked with a decade earlier. After several years of working with her, she came up to me and said, "You're amazing, you just go through life thinking everyone likes you." As you can imagine I was a bit taken aback, at first. The thing is I go through life, friendly, open & supportive to and of all people. It never occurs to me to be any different. I’m approachable, a good listener and people know I actually care. So to even imagine that someone didn't like me because I was too friendly, too happy, too white, too annoying, too sensitive, too accepting, too gay, too whatever, was unimaginable and yet you know not everyone going to like you. I spend a lot of time being supportive of others vision of who they want to be, and trying to help them power through those things that keep them from following through on their aspirations & dreams. You have to give me a pretty strong reason to not like you, and cut you off completely, as in doing something that undermines my basic survival and yet, still, I tend to be forgiving to a fault, but I grow older, more tired & weary.

I mostly try to keep things up beat and of a more constructive & positive nature, to show that all things are possible, at some level, if you move in the direction of your hopes & dreams. I will say this though, before I met Don, I thought I was invisible, unseen. Invisible as in, I didn't matter or exist in any real way in this world. So PRIDE for me is about the life we've created for ourselves over the past 38 years and the compassionate & positive influence, impact & change we've been able to make or have on other peoples lives. Yes, for this I'm especially proud and grateful of.

More recently, on at least 2 separate occasions, people I've known for decades have said to me, "Stay sweet". I suspect they can see my stress, utter pain & disappointment with some of the people I contend with daily, in light of current direction of things & events. Most of the disappointment comes from the so called, religious, especially as it seems to me that it only applies to their narrow tribe and the church they go to, hypocrites. So I say again, "The central message of most religions is not every man for himself, but to love each other as oneself." This should involve empathy, compassion & understanding, not hyper criticism & judgement towards others. It seems simple and yet here we are, one more time allowing one man to illicit. incite, ignite and weaponize people against each other for the sole purpose of soothing his ego and lining his pockets$. I couldn't be more disgusted & remember it was just 10 years ago when people made an active effort to just get along, for the most part. I suppose I'll get over it and we'll get on with doing what we do, by keep trying to add beauty & knowledge into the world, in the service of all humanity, as equals.

One of the very best things about my parents is the fact that neither had any prejudices, that I was ever aware of. We lived and I grew up next to a neighborly & freindly lesbian couple, Corby & Jackie, may they rest in peace. Hence, I embrace diversity and grew up in northern Illinois with the notion of the American melting pot and it's a small world after all, both, I strongly believe in. I have a comprensive worlds religions library in my house, as I’ve been reading and studying them since I was in my teens. There's a praying Jesus & Buddha statue in our front yards garden. I do not identify specifically as Christian, or Buddhist, but consider myself Unitarian Universalist, as I embrace their teachings, as well as other prophets & teachers of love for the common good of all.

Several years ago, while on vacation, we met a Russian man who has sought asylm here in the U.S.A. under Obamas watch. It turned out he was a civil attorney/activist in Russia for LGBTQ rights. Russia, currently has what are known as the Gay Hunters. He explained, Queer Russians Are Being Brutally “Hunted” and Murdered, and the U.S. Has Done Nothing. Russian LGBTQ+ activists are terrified they could be next. U.S. hate groups and government inaction may play a big part in the country’s increasingly virulent homophobia and Project 2025, leads it all back here to the USA. The Human Rights Campaign shows a current backlash already, in the extremely high rate of murder, of trans persons over the past 8-10 years. There’s 4 films I reccomend, Campaign of Hate: Russia and Gay Propagandaby Michael Luca, Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia, INSIDE JOB & BAD FAITH documentaries.

When we were allowed to, we had a union ceremony, soon after we were able to be married. I remember saying to Don, are you sure you want to do this, it only takes one crazy narcissist nut-fock with no sense of right or wrong running things and we're toast, gassed or shoved into the fiery furnace. Fact. Don & I have been together 38 years, that’s nearly 5 times the national average. And I find myself questioning... why are so many of my friends and family willing to risk our lives when no one on the left has ever told them who to love, what to believe in or how they personally should live their lives. The simple facts are there are 2 kinds of people in the world, givers and takers, the latter are so insecure about who they are that they are compelled to destroy everyone and everything around them, that they don’t understand, thinking they’re justified and entitled in their self-righteousness, utterly , without cause, without thought, without remorse for who or what they’ve destroyed.

When the person who's poisoned the well, thinks everythings so toxic. i.e. Remember, his modus operandi is lie, deny, deflect, project & repeat on an endless loop.Unfortunately, there's a great many people that just believe what is said and it never occurs to them to check the info. He's still playing his character from the the apprentice and destroying every shred of this country and its peoples future. We have a system of checks & balances, it assures justice for all. It is currently out of balance as some have confused lawlessness and freedom… the later comes with personal responsibility & consequences for one’s actions.

Let me leave you with this thought to ponder, its when people confuse the will of God, with the will of some people of power, that you get the inquisition, witch hunts, nazi germany, gay hunters & Project 2025, a.k.a. Agenda 47. Here’s an easy solution, think for yourself, be respectful, tolerant and Vote blue, if at all possible. Be a drop in the ocean, so when the wave hits, everyone understands that it was equality, freedom, truth, justice and the American way that has just washed over them.

~thanks for listening

as always, your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

I painted this in 2013 just before marriage equality was passed as law

Art, Nature & Soul #88

June 12, 2024 in abstract, abstract realism, contemporary art, impressionism, expressionism, indie, outsider, paintings, post impressionism, Surrealism

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

Art, Nature & Soul #87

May 18, 2024 in abstract, abstract realism, contemporary art, expressionism, impressionism, modern art, post impressionism

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)

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

Enter to Win, in person, at the gallery,
A 500$ Value
Morning Light 14”x14” framed oil

Art, Nature & Soul #86

April 23, 2024 in contemporary art, post impressionism, Fine Art

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

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

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

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

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

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

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #85

March 04, 2024 in abstract, abstract realism, contemporary, expressionism, impressionism, indie, modern art, outsider, paintings, post impressionism

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

February 17, 2024 in abstract, abstract realism, contemporary, contemporary art, outsider, paintings, post impressionism, Surrealism, realism, modern art

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

Art, Nature & Soul #83

January 30, 2024 in Art, contemporary, expressionism, impressionism, post impressionism

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

In early December 2023 I received this message.

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

Regards,

Adam G.

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

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

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

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

Thanks for support

as always your thoughts & comments are welcome,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #82

December 23, 2023 in abstract realism, contemporary, expressionism, modern art, outsider, paintings, post impressionism, Surrealism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes***

Art, Nature & Soul #81

November 23, 2023 in Art, contemporary, contemporary art, modern art

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As always your thoughts & questions are welcome,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #80

October 28, 2023 in abstract, contemporary, expressionism, impressionism, modern art, post impressionism

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

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

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

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

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

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

―Henry David Thoreau

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

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

Art, Nature & Soul #79

September 26, 2023 in abstract, abstract realism, contemporary art, impressionism, modern art, post impressionism

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

August 18, 2023 in abstract realism, contemporary art, expressionism, impressionism, modern art, post impressionism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace, love & light Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #77

July 31, 2023 in contemporary art, impressionism

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

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

Al H

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

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

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

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

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

A Separate Peace 30”x40” oil on canvas

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

Art, Nature & Soul #76

June 25, 2023 in abstract, abstract realism, contemporary, expressionism, impressionism, modern art, outsider, paintings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Art, Nature & Soul #75

May 23, 2023 in abstract, contemporary, expressionism, Fine Art, paintings

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

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

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

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

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

Your questions & commissions are welcome, Richard