Art, Nature & Soul #95

*I began writing this about 4 years ago, a rough draft and posted it as a blog when I completed it and the painting several years ago. When I wrote it I had an idea to expand it into something more elaborate, more personal and so here I have. Cheers!

A Boxing Day Story for the Poor in Spirit~

LAST CHRISTMAS

I'm told to always remember that whatever the person's age, from 1-101, perhaps younger, maybe even older, that while the body may begin to decline, show its age and be saying one thing, that the person's mind, thoughts, feeling and emotions can mostly remains the same, as confused as they may seem at times. All the desires, the hopes, the dreams, and the dreads are still there, the same, unchanged, as a child full of wonderment, joy and fear. At my age, I've found that sentiment to be true, in oh so many ways.

I was the kind of kid who woke up in the middle of the night, Christmas Eve, and went through his Christmas stocking, shook the presents under the tree, then sat on the sofa and watched out the bay window, with mothers bell collection filling it's ledges, in a "every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings", kind of way. I'd look about the neighborhood Christmas light displays and snow covered homes, in search of Santa, up on a rooftop. One cold, snowy, blizzard of a year, at age 12, I was awoken with such inner excitement and a bright eyed wonderment, that I had convinced myself I had seen him, Santa, on the roof of a house a couple blocks away. I squinted and strained to see, convinced that...maybe I had, maybe it was him, for reals.

I'm reminded that this year is the 31th without my mother, of whom I only had 28 Christmases in life. Covid & a longtime inner urging to move south, had sent my only living sibling, my sister, out of state. Her daughters, my three adult nieces followed, one to lead, 2 others in tow, following their bliss. This had left my only other immediate family, dad, who was still in the area, of whom our father/son relationship, over these many years, had not been without its own strains and challenges.

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

The good-times, gatherings, parties & celebrations seemed endless, with never an end in sight. Now don't get me wrong, while I remember these things with great joy & bliss and a certain wide eyed child naivety, I do know these times were not perfect. There was plenty of turmoil, divorce, alcoholism, misfortune, illnesses and deaths, just, to name a few. In a large family, it's inevitable, if not expected, but then that's life, getting real. Most everyone in my extended family and quite a few friends, had lived with us, my family, at some point, off & on, throughout my childhood, as well. So their lives were very much intertwined and a part of ours in a more wonderful & personal way. This was who my parents were, always there to lend a helping hand, for whoever and for whatever the circumstance. Still, for me, they, the people & times were indeed, perfectly imperfect or imperfectly perfect, and my memories & thoughts tickle my aging and sentimental heart still.

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

Mack's is in Elmhurst, Il. the town I grew up in. It was my first job. At 13-14 years of age, I was a busboy, then dishwasher, until I began to work my way up to line cook assistant, before quitting to find my true life path. Importantly I was the peppermint ice cream taste tester, checking those maraschino cherries out for freshness and of course those grilled pup burgers and steak fries for perfection...ha. Several of my aunts and uncles had worked there when they were youngsters and a grandmother, even waited tables trying to make ends meet while raising 9 children, in the early days. Even more so, several of my friends had worked there, some into adulthood. Family events were held there often, wedding banquets, funeral dinners, events, meetups, special dinners and even Easter brunches, that included my 3 nieces. I even hung out at the bar with a great many friends & family well into my 20s. We still go there on occasion. I had moved to St Charles 30 years ago, just down the street from the Silver Pheasant and also went there until it closed some 20 years ago. I've known 5 generations of the Mack's, from their family owned restaurant.

We picked up dad and headed for Mack's Golden Pheasant. We were seated by the fireplace, in the window room that looked out on their aviary, lit up in Christmas lights, which usually had pheasants and the like in it. I hadn't been there in some years, but the decor and cuisine had remained the same, outstanding, with a warm & cozy atmosphere and feel. Everyone was dressed smart casual of a sort and the tables were covered in white tablecloths and folded napkins. I ordered their renowned fillet, which came with a salad and soup, yes, both still. The baked French onion soup was still excellent, still made with cooking sherry and the most tender fillet served with onion rings over mushroom buttons. The garlic dressing was still savory and unchanged, plus a fluffy baked potato, butter, sour cream & chives, all were still top notch delicious, the apple strudel out of this world, perhaps, impart, the nostalgia of it was filling my heart and soul, as well as my tummy too.

After a couple of hours of good eats and conversation I got out my cell-camera and video panned the room, fireplace, dad, our table, the festive people, my hubby, and outside the window room with its decor, holiday appropriate. As I continued to pan the room, with my cell, I had an overwhelming sense & feeling they were all here with us…the people, ghosts of past, present & future. I had decided to walk about the restaurant having excused myself to use the restroom. The smell of burning pine filled the room from the open, two sided fireplace where we had been seated. As I walked about, in my mind's eye and sentimental heart, an old friend was waitressing, I gave her a wave, a wink, a smile and a Merry Christmas, so as to not disturb her work. A couple stairs up from the window room, I looked about the room and saw more family and some old friends celebrating the holiday season, I noticed some members missing. There was my best friend, from when we were kids, his wife had passed on a couple-three years earlier and his mom was my moms best friend too, we smiled at each other. I stopped to say hi briefly wishing happy holidays and our faces revealing life's passing and its times of stress, unspoken to each other. The walls were covered in the same quaint Bohemian Czech decor they had always had. tapestry's, paintings, stuffed bird domed glass panorama's and butterfly displays, quite homey and inviting.

Such a wonderful old world flavor that you just don't see, much less experience anymore, I thought to myself as I wandered and remembered further. My memories flashed as I looked about the bar, there were my grandparents, where both sides used to hang out, now long gone, some aunts and uncles and their spouses, many friends and other friendly faces. Grandpa, mom's dad, donned his hat to me, and gave a Bob Hope laugh. The faces of some, long ago having moved on, from divorce or having departed this life, but all the same, here in my fond memories. I raised my glass in a toast to them and my heart filled with love for them all. As I see an ex wife, an old girlfriend on an emotional high and a longtime lover, all, now gone too. I gave a nod to the bartender, looking aged now, but in my thoughts a young man in his 20's, the son of the owner, just starting out, being tutored in the family business way. It was he, when I was a young teen, who made sure I was able to taste the maraschino cherries on the dl for freshness. I had worked for his father and his grandmother, the original owner who lived in the apartment upstairs, so sweet, so charming.

I walked down the long flight of stairs to the banquet area, the room was full and festive. In my thoughts it was my sister's wedding reception again, she's so happy and I'm happy for her. I walked the room shaking hands, giving hugs, giving out a wink , a smile and a wave as I did a lap through the festive room. So many, now gone, either passed on or moved on to new pastures or life adventures. I miss them all. There's an uncle getting loud and obnoxious, another slipping off his stool from to much drink, another is flaunting his girlfriend, of whom I have a huge crush on, another is putting on the ritz, still another talking about fishing, a great aunt, grandmas sister, wants to get high with one of them, they do, another uncles up in the bar because his ex wife was invited but he doesn't want the scene, so he avoids it, an aunt giggles, she's my godmother, still another speaks with her now, Texas accent, my dads brothers are both there, ones ex military the other a truck driver and I notice dad's had way to much drink again and I'm glad I don't have to drive home with him, mom just shakes her head and smiles, knowingly anticipating what's going to happen when they get back home. My cousins are all a buzz, all too young to fathom anything about what's going on, except for being a kid or young adult, as if there's anything we ever thought about, in the moment beyond that. More friends and family flood in the room and not one of us registering that this is just one of a number of fleeting moments of our lives, as we are present. I can not shake the feeling that, that was then and this is now and they're all gone, my heart yearns for them.

So I go back upstairs as dad and my husband are probably wondering where I've disappeared to. As I circle the room one last time, I see several tables have been pushed together for a large family gathering and I remember one of many times we gathered for a dinner break, during a family wake. I scan the faces now there and laughter, joy and smiles prevail the scene. I stopped at the wall of windows that looked out on the garden patio, my breath fogged the glass, a light snow had started to fall, the first of the season, on the holiday lit and decorated area, a few birds were nestled on branches to keep warm. I went to sit down and my husband asked, is everything ok? I shake my head to indicate, of course, my eyes are obviously glossy holding back a joyful tear, and suggest we have the hostess take a photo of us. Dad sits, my husband and I stand, hands on shoulders, embracing and smiling one last Christmas eve, a fleeting moment, now a memory. But I have a warm feeling that all those family members and friends, from days gone by, were there with us, if not in presence, certainly in fond memories and spirit. And I think to myself, in the words of Charles Dickens' Tiny Tim character, "God bless us, Everyone."

Dad passed on earlier in 2024, just a couple months after his 81st bday and Mack's closed its doors a week before Christmas, the same year, last year. So it is, January 14, 2025,which would have been dads 82nd bday, and just the other day I saw a video clip of the restaurant being demolished and the sign being knocked down, now forever lost to time and memory...so it is I write it all down, because for now I remember it clearly with a great love for all those who have come and gone, passing, for one reason or the other, through my life and mine there's.

Richard Sperry

‘MACK’s a 1st Snow’ 24”x24” oil

Me, Dad & Don Christmas 2022

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 #91

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

Thy Nieghbor 9"x12" oil

History will record which you stood by.

Art, Nature & Soul #90

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 #85

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

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

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

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

As always your comments & questions are welcome,

Richard

PEOPLE Have the Power 24”x36” mixed media

Art, Nature & Soul #84

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

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

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

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

In any case I had several thoughts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As always your comments & questions are welcome,

Thanks Richard

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

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

Art, Nature & Soul #83

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

In early December 2023 I received this message.

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

Regards,

Adam G.

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

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

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

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

Thanks for support

as always your thoughts & comments are welcome,

Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #82

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes

Art, Nature & Soul #81

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As always your thoughts & questions are welcome,

Richard

Rodney Sperry, my brother

HEROES, just for one day. Brothers

Art, Nature & Soul #80

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

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

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

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

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

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

―Henry David Thoreau

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

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

Art, Nature & Soul #76

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Art, Nature & Soul #75

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

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

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

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

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

Your questions & commissions are welcome, Richard

Ascension 40”x60” mixed media

placement in home

placement

Art, Nature & Soul #74

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your questions are always welcome, Richard

Pot at the end of the Rainbow by Robert Owen

Top of the World by Robert Owen

Surf’s Up 24”x36” oil original

Art, Nature & Soul #71

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

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

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

peace, love & light Richard

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

New Day 30"x30" oil representational

Art, Nature & Soul #69

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

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

Song by Lynn Anderson

Lyrics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dear Diary,

Peace, Love & Light,

With Grace & Gratitude,

Sincerely Richard

‘Rainy Day Chicago’ 24”x30” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #61 Sold/Donation

STAND WITH UKRAINE-Fundraiser-April 2022 SOLD for Donation

Sunflowers symbolise loyalty & adoration. The sunflower (or “soniashnyk”) is Ukraine's national flower and has been grown on its central and eastern steppes since the middle of the 18th century. In a matter of weeks, the sunflower has become a worldwide symbol of support for the Ukraine.

At the bottom in green, is a map of the country of Ukraine. Each of the sunflowers within it, symbolize the Ukranian people in the most populated areas of the Ukraine. The area with the most sunflowers is the capital city of Kyiv, that has taken some of the heaviest shelling, and where an artist friend was in hospital when it all began. He has been fighting for his life since. The single sunflower symbolizes Volodymyr Zelenskyy, its most brave & courageous president, standing his ground and leading his people.

It will be available at Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop, Geneva Illinois where during the month of April 2022, a dozen or so of its artists, George Bruce, Kyle Buckland, Michael Cane, David Hettinger, Errol Jacobson, Don & Ellen Ljung, Maureen McKee, Brian Sauerland, Stephanie Weidner, Randy Willis, William Worcester & myself, will be making a stand and offering our artworks as support of the Ukraine. Proceeds from the event, will be donated to UNICEF USA, Children's Fund, that is on the ground in eastern Ukraine ramping up assistance for children & their families.

I have several friends & artist friends from or in the Ukraine. 1, artist friend, that was having difficulty getting in hospital. e.m. care for his severe internal bleed, a non war related issue, as they are understaffed and overrun with causalities. Not, only am I seeing photos of the horrors of war and the carnage, but even more so, images of the brave & iconic, are showing up all over my social media links, of people of all ages & backgrounds in the Ukraine's struggle, patriotism, & devastation, those including their presidents bravery as a leader… a true leader in effort to maintain their freedom, from the grasp of a tyrant.

That so stated, my neighbors of 26, years are Russian. I worked with their daughter, my friend, many years ago. I have several artists friends that are Russian & have 1 of their artworks in my home. I know several Russian gay men, 1 an acquaintance, that escaped the gay hunters in Russia during the Obama presidency, asking & taking asylum here in the U.SA. and several others still living under severe oppression in Russia, with severe and often life threatening penalties. My Russian friends, some here in the states, are worried about their families and are sharing pictures and videos of the Russian peoples attempts to stand up against their current government, this, including Russian military personnel, not wanting to fight against their neighbors, their family and their friends, in favor of peace & freedom for all, so it is also their well being that is also in my thoughts.

My friend Ilya, with the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, reflects what all my Russian friends here in the U.S.A. and abroad are feeling & conveying, please remember this.. He stated, ”…sick of pride, ambition, and vanity, cannot fight us. We must not give in to hating each other! Through love we overcome evil.” We, the people of the world must be united in our support to both the Ukrainian people & encourage the Russian population that's trying to stop its government from continuing down this war path. Remember this, Putin, the Russian government and its blind followers are the threat, not the majority of it's civilian persons.

Further details at

Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop

213 W. State St Geneva Il. 60134

www.proudfoxgallery.com

As always, thanks for your support , your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

'Stand With Ukraine’ 16”x40” oil SOLD/Donation

Color Study #114 'Let the Sunshine’ 12”x12” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #60

I just gotta paint, that’s it! I see something, imagine a thing, get a feeling, and go for it. These color studies are my playtime, free streaming, eyes to brain to hand…no, over thinking, just a blissful outpouring of emotion & paint… color my world and I’ll color yours. I hope they bring you as much joy as they bring me.

As always, these are available for your consideration at www.richardsperrygallery.com & your comments and questions are welcome~

Richard

www.richardsperrygallery.com

Art, Nature & Soul #59

The deep blue sea, the darkness of an undersea world, as illuminated by the flickering light from above. A place where representational meets abstract in the recesses of the mind. As a young boy I loved to swim and especially underwater.

Growing up, I learned to swim at the YMCA, then we had a pool in our backyard. I’d spend hours swimming, doing circles and swimming back and forth across he middle underwater. In boy scout camp, I remember one camping trip in particular spent tenting, canoeing and swimming. Once I had swam out pretty far into the lake and decided to dive deep as I could. I was pretty good at holding my breath, so after one deep breath I dove to the bottom of the lake, some 15-20 feet or so, opened my eyes and magic, that was it. The water was green, the light flickered from above and I could see the plants, slimed with algae and fish swimming by me close. I was amazed, tickled & wanted to stay down there forever. Thinking back It was my, obscure reference #1, Incredible Mr. Limpit moment. A story about a man who loves the sea so much he dreams of being a fish and then is one. Flipper, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea & Jacques Cousteau, obscure reference #2, were all favorite TV shows, I’d watch regularly in awe in deep fascination. I had even thought of being a n Oceanographer in middle school, then swimming with and photographing the ocean seas creatures in my teens and early 20s.

At 57, I’ve finally booked a charter to go snorkeling for the first time. Our road trip included a 4 day stop in Key West, Florida, so I found a charter that left off of Stock Island in Key West. It was a Wild About Dolphins excursions. We choose the 3.5 hour trip. Tara, our guide was fantastic, as the pups came along for the boat ride and she watched after them so we could snorkel. After watching a couple pods of Dolphins, one that had a baby swimming with them, we headed for Casa Rocks, 2-3 ,miles off the island shore. Don, my husband, & I went in together, after testing the water to see if we needed wet suits or not. The water was about 75 degrees so we opted to swim without, although they would have made us more buoyant & offered some protection from the sea critters. Tara gave excellent instructions as she passed us the flippers, mask & snorkel. After getting in the water, I realized I hadn’t swam in over a decide and its a lot of work, so we went back for noodles, a float assist, so we could focus on getting used to the flippers , mask and snorkel…& breath through your mouth, not your nose…ha. I swam over the reef, repeatedly made that mental note and stuck my face in the water.

Wow, so amazing, a great variety of & hundreds and hundreds of sea critters, all living together. There were so many different types and some in large schools, it was hard to keep track of all that I was looking at. That said, the ones that stood out were several Yellow Tangs, a large Parrot Fish, what I think was a Spider Crab & a Moon Jellyfish, that I made sure to keep mt distance from. It was thrilling to watch them all do there thing, in the community around the living coral reef, 3rd largest in the world. As I often do, I just kept thinking symbiotics, symbiotics. Most life either gets it or just lives it instinctively…then I think, humans? Try as we may, a large percent just doesn’t get it. In my way of thinking, all of life needs and relies on these relationships or survival, and the patterns made echo across all life. By definition though, its more directly related to, 2 species mutual dependency for survival, like anemone & a clown fish. Symbiosis is a close ecological relationship between the individuals of two (or more) different species. Sometimes a symbiotic relationship benefits both species, sometimes one species benefits at the other's expense, and in other cases neither species benefits, so ask which are you and be it.

I have watched & read a fair amount of non fiction & documentary on sea life, and in particular, endangered whales. This painting is based on an image from one such educational opp & experience, that I’ve translated into a painting, charged with my thoughts, emotions & favorite color…blue. Plus the thrill eagerly anticipated entrance of the whole undersea world’s life, in it's abundance & glory. Snorkeling was a great thrill that I intend to do again, until then, I paint the world I live in, as I see & experience it.

6 different blues, a green, violet, magenta, 3 yellows, white, on canvas using an arsenal of paint brushes, palette knives & other implements were all used in combinations to create this piece. As always, your comments & questions are welcome~ Richard Sperry

‘Caverns’ 24”x24” oil

Caverns 24"x24" oil

Me snorkeling for the first time, in Key West 2022..

Art, Nature & Soul #57

Sometimes what we say, is being said so loud no one can hear us, much less listen. Over the past 5-10 years, here in the good ole U.S.A. it seems to be the case. Our government, a democratic-republic and it’s system of checks and balances’ is the best in the world, but it works much better when the pendulum doesn’t swing quite so wide. Respect, diplomacy, & critical thinking seems to be at an all time low, second only to that during the civil war.

Humans are a fearful lot. Especially when it comes to persons of different ethnicities, cultures & belief systems. What we do not understand, we try to destroy. Historically, the fight for survival, is a brutal one. Humans are a nomadic lot, seeking abundance...an abundance of food, shelter & freedom to be, to have choices, to live in the ways we think best for our selves, our group. Often times, either intentionally or inadvertently taking away those same choices from others in the process, in a power struggle, forgetting that all of humanity is our group. With this in mind, I celebrate the mix, the American melting pot, the search for, the choices & freedoms we have as individuals, as conceived by those who fled one land, for another , plus the founding mothers & fathers intentions. I embrace the differences, the choices, the freedoms & advocate the sharing of the abundance, the harvest. Sit down with those persons you do not understand, ask questions, hear truths, seek facts, understand history & context, be respectful, break bread and share the abundance, the wealth, the harvest and by all means be grateful for all these opportunities, given & received, moving forward.

The Pilgrims Monument, was erected in Provincetown MA. a reminder of our early roots, our history, the intention, the reality, its cost. Today it stands as a beacon and safe haven for people of belief systems of diversity, acceptance & respect, from here & around the world.

On November 23, 1977, my brother Rodney, age 4, passed on from this world, the 24th, Thanksgiving was the day after, we buried him days later, I was just 13. He had CP and other health complications. These four years were perhaps the most influential & defining of my life. I learned in a very short time what it truly meant to be human, to be alive and the purpose. As it turned out, the lesson was a very simple one, to choose love.

So many people come and go, pass by, throughout our lifetime. Sometimes by death, but often times the various stages of a life and transitory nature of people, are the other necessary factors. From the time we are born, we are growing, mind, body & soul, striving to survive, searching for the more permanent connections of our lives, in the pursuit of happiness. We seek out the people , persons and things that validate who we are or want to be. Often times, by circumstance, not choice we loose touch with family, friends & acquaintances…those influential teachers of our lives, whom we’ve had those intimate times & lessons, on what it means to be human, to be alive. All these people stay in my head, my memories, in a time capsule of sorts. The memories flash, I remember, I wonder, I hope they are well, as they appear in my head, as they did the last times I saw them, but knowing full well their lives have also changed or ended.

I’m a bit of a romantic, sentimental guy, my memories are intense, while I know things, people, myself, aren’t perfect …my memories are flooded with the perfection of the imperfect moments of our time held in amber, all these relationships and their lessons. People have become even more nomadic, often times scattered to the four corners, even more so in the past quarter century or more. However, with the internet and all the social media networks, I’ve been able to stay connected or reconnect with many, many people from my past, plus meet new people from various backgrounds all over the world. I guess what I’m trying to say is, whether or not, we are actively in each others lives these days or we communicate more regularly, know you’re all in my thoughts & fond memories. Know that you are thought of kindly & loved, with hopes that you’re living your best life as you see fit. I am so grateful to have or to have had, all of you in my life! Remember, sometimes what looks like a sunset is really a sunrise.

~Be Thankful, Celebrate Life & it's Diversity, Peace & Love Richard

Beacon 30”x30” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #55

How we see is as important as what we see, when conveying our minds visual capture. Beyond the visual perception, I tend to tap into all my senses, all 7, Sight (Vision), Hearing (Auditory), Smell (Olfactory), Taste (Gustatory), Touch (Tactile), Vestibular (Movement), Proprioception (Body Position) and perhaps another the intuitive nature and third eye.

Sitting on the deck of the Aqua Bar in Provincetown, Ptown Massachusetts and looking out over the sea and sky, the moon rose and glistened off the water. I was taken by the subtle light and movement of the night. I broke out my camera to get a photo capture of what I was seeing, the sparkle of moonlight twinkling across the ocean. How could the light reflecting off the moon be bright enough to be cast upon the water, I questioned in my mind, but it was and did. It was about 75 degrees with a light breeze that moved the water and air around this night, the photo hardly captured it, which fascinated me. A distant pier, the McMillian Warf and several boats, had a few lights shining off them too, but it was 1/2 hour after sunset and the light seemed to fade to black when I began to search for the light.

There’s a multitude of color theories, but the one I’ve found most helpful is to find the light, seek the color and look for how they interact and reflect off each other, let the dance, play & mingle be what they are and see it. A wise artist, Hilda Neily, that I had pleasure of painting & studying with, once said to me, “it’s like dropping acid” once you get it, you see it and it can’t be undone. I’ve found that to be true, Even though, and perhaps more so here in the mid-west with more traditional color schemes. Most, I dare say see the sky as blue, the grass as green and dirt as brown. Now when I look for the color I first see the light. In my paintings I often juxtapose both my regular & new ways of seeing them in a single painting., such is the case here, not in blocks but layered & moving planes of color & texture. Edges more than line, it seems it’s all connected, not separated by line, the world around us, the things in it, all intersect, relate to and are more symbiotic than not, in the broadest sense as well as the minut.

One morning, while in Ptown it was raining. I broke out my easel, paint, some small panels and utensils for painting. I found a wonderful view from the second floor out the window, another outside on the deck, and yet another from the the photo and sensory memory of the moon, sky & water, while sitting on the deck experiencing it. Here’s the result, as I’m 57 years old, it took fifty-seven years of studying, growing, time ,money & passion to complete this one, now that’s an investment.

Your questions & comments are welcome, always,

Richard

Color Study #100, Moonbeams 12’x12’ oil on panel