Art, Nature & Soul #98

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hello Richard,

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

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

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

Let's remain in touch for everything else.

Best and soon,

The CFA Team

Read a recent Q&A with the artist

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

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

Describe your creative process.

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

What inspires or influences your work?

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

What do you consider the strongest aspect of your work?

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

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

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

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

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

How do you balance tradition and innovation?

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

What is the most rewarding part of being an artist?

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

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

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

What is the role of the artist today?

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

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

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

Your questions & comments are welcome,

Thank you

Richard

URBAN MOSAIC 60”x40” mixed media

Art, Nature & Soul #96

It was with a sense of urgency , I felt compelled to to paint this piece. If you look closely you can find these 13 words hidden within: compassion, sympathy, equality, empathy, freedom, love, hope, peace, faith, charity, justice, liberty, privacy & diversity. These are the values of the U.S.A. , but you’ll need to search hard because they’re disappearing quickly. The white, separating the red & blue, symbolizes independence & unity. The 18k gold leaf a symbol of greed as it is consumed by the red. The black charcoal a symbol of the erasures used to cancel the words, the civility of a nation. There are 50 stars in oil pastel representing the 50 united state, all unique, but bound by a covenant, a contract if you will, The Constitution of the U.S.A.. crafted and finely honed to protect a nation and all its people. But it is currently being circumvented by the powers that be as rule of law is side stepped, without guard rails or checks and balances to guide and protect us.

Every fiber of my being is screaming "Danger, Danger Will Robinson". In the past few weeks I've noticed that the information highway has been hijacked by techies and AI. What once was, is no longer. Most will not even notice it, but in some very subtle and subconscious ways the information has been deleted, omitted, or created anew. This to create the narrative needed to control you, it's a money and power hungry grab. A disinformation scheme has been implemented to dismantle and disable us. Most people are literal minded and will accept the information unchecked, only the critical minded  will even notice the changes taking place. If you all take a moment to rewind 10 years ago...you'll at minimum agree that we , for the most part, were able to work well and play with others, unconditionally. This elementary, yes simple concept of civility, is being erased, in favor of a culture of hate & fear, based on information and a narrative that serves the elite, not humanity. Most information is being manipulated, take a moment to research, look for the hard copy info and think because we are all on the verge of  "That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!" What we imagine is.  “The total number of minds in the universe is one. In fact, consciousness is a singularity phasing within all beings,” Erwin Schrödinger.    So "don't blink" and imagine this instead. 

"Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world" John Lennon

Give this some thought and understand what this means at the

more basic & its most sublime...

The one thing everything in the universe has in common is that it is made up of matter & energy, which are fundamentally interconnected and subject to the laws of physics; essentially, everything is composed of the same building blocks, just arranged differently.

WE, ALL LIFE, ARE ORGANIC ALGORITHMS RECOGNIZING MATHEMATICAL PATTERNS OF FRACTALS x CHAOS, MADE OF THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MATTER & ENERGY OF SYNCHRONICITY IN THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM...stardust be it named, the universe or God and apparently the unbearable oneness of being...

“You cannot conceive the many without the one...The study of the unit is among those that lead the mind on and turn it to the vision of reality.”

Plato

and now a warning from, Werner Herzog, who said: "Dear America: You are waking up as Germany once did, to the awareness that 1/3 of your people would kill another 1/3, while 1/3 watches."

Be mindful, carry on & have a good day...

Erasures for the Red, White & Blue 30x30” oil on canvas

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 #93

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

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

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

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

Richard

Mini Me’s 2024

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 #89

Dear Diary,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~thanks for listening

as always, your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

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

Art, Nature & Soul #87

Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop

Presents

Featured Artist

Richard Sperry

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

(click on link to watch video)

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

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

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

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

An exhibition of 60 artworks will be on display throughout,

May 8-June 8, 2024

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

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

‘Morning Meadow’ 14”x14” framed oil

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

60 pieces for your enjoyment & consideration

some of my favorites to have created.

Enter to Win, in person, at the gallery,

A 500$ Value

Morning Light 14”x14” framed oil

Art, Nature & Soul #85

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

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

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

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

As always your comments & questions are welcome,

Richard

PEOPLE Have the Power 24”x36” mixed media

Art, Nature & Soul #84

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

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

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

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

In any case I had several thoughts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As always your comments & questions are welcome,

Thanks Richard

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

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

Art, Nature & Soul #82

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes

Art, Nature & Soul #81

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As always your thoughts & questions are welcome,

Richard

Rodney Sperry, my brother

HEROES, just for one day. Brothers

Art, Nature & Soul #80

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

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

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

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

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

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

―Henry David Thoreau

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

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

Art, Nature & Soul #79

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

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

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

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

~Richard

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

Art, Nature & Soul #78

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace, love & light Richard

Art, Nature & Soul #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 #74

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your questions are always welcome, Richard

Pot at the end of the Rainbow by Robert Owen

Top of the World by Robert Owen

Surf’s Up 24”x36” oil original

Art, Nature & Soul #73

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

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

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

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

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

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

artist Vachagan Narazyan from the Disappearing Landscapes exhibition.

Entertainment by artist Vachagan Narazyan

Art, Nature & Soul #72

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

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

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

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

As always your questions & comments are welcome,

Richard

‘Real American Hero’s’ 20”x24” oil

'Breakfast's Ready' 24"x20" oil

Detail