Art, Nature & Soul #54

*The plight of the whales of the world are a cause near and dear to my heart. The many species along the eastern seaboard and particularly the North Atlantic Right Whale have a special place for me, as I've been following them from some of their feeding grounds, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts to their calving grounds around the St, Augustine, Florida, for nearly a decade now. If you've followed me for a while you know my meaning. After 2 recent documentary watches 'Entangled' and 'The Loneliest Whale', both excellent, I've decided to donate the total proceeds from the sale of this painting to Center of Coastal Studies Provincetown, as I've seen them in action numerous times and have even participated in an entangled whale rescue. Message me for further info on how to purchase this painting and help to 'Save the Whale', from extinction.

There are only about 400 or so North Atlantic Right Whales surviving along eastern seaboard of North America, their primary resident. Beyond the obvious of the previous 3 centuries Whaling Industry, we have known for quite some time the multiple factors infringing on their ability to thrive. It appears that the primary ones are, entanglement, ship strikes, & sonar disrupting their communications. The Fisheries have, for the most part been trying to cooperate as have the shipping lanes been modified to avoid them when we know when and where they are. Climate change has posed yet another challenge as the areas that we have been trying to protect are not always the places they are going now. With climate change has brought more random chaos and a change in where the abundance of food may or may not be. It seems there is a partial and highly effective solution. The majority of the whale deaths are due to entanglement. A team has created an experimental rope less traps, that if supplied to the fisheries could in fact help the fisheries as well as save the whale. Funding is needed to continue the development and distribute the new traps to the fisheries, free of charge contingent on the agreement of eliminating all roped cages.

For this piece I utilized a photo from one of the documentaries as my reference for the direct approach of painting and its expression. A relatively simple painting and yet beyond the image of the whale, the richness of the colors was extremely important to me in creating the depth of field. The colors used were bleached & unbleached Titanium white, 6 different blues, mineral violet, magenta, Indian yellow, raw sienna & yellow ochre. As I really enjoy varied textures, my primary tools are brushes, palette knives, sculpting tools & tissues. This assisted in creating the illusion of the whale being suspended in the water, paint before the scale of the diver.

Your questions & comments, as always are welcome.,

Richard

’Save the Whale’ 36”x18” oil

Art, Nature & Soul #53

Here’s 18 more mini-me’s that I painted this past spring 2021. It’s been an usually lush spring this year, so green is the word….lots and lots of green. Nature gives me great solace even in the most trying of times. Where I live, there are at least 5 parks/forest preserves & the river within an easy walk from my home, besides the pond directly behind it. I walk one of them daily, most of the others get a weekly or monthly visit, besides all the ones we drive to throughout the year, within an 4-8 mile radius and across the country, on our road trips. It’s a great place, If you like hiking, biking & boating and we do, besides the 5 town arts events and cultural arts, music, theater scene, is happening here along the river year round, from Aurora, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles & Elgin Illinois, and with Chicago & Lake Michigan just down the road 34 miles. All these areas provide lots of opportunity to paint., balancing my art, nature & soul work and ambitions.

Each panel has a matter-of-factness conveyed of both the subject matter and my approach. There’s no over thinking it or agonizing over it on these artworks. My alla-prima approach on these are meant to be my most intimate and direct revelations of how I see. I use only the highest quality materials for their longevity & colorfastness. I love color and texture which is instantly conveyed upon first viewing. Also, on most pieces you may think you can feel a slight breeze or see the sky and ocean moving, while that breeze rustles over the prairie or sea grasses, as conveying movement is also important to me.

Being here in the midwest around the Great Lakes provides endless subjects for both my representational and more abstract artworks, as life under a microscope, thru a telescope or my minds eye is discovered & revealed. Traveling, seeking out new environments and experiences enhance what I see and how I think, these are the things I hope to convey in my paintings…that all things are possible if we move in the direction of your hearts desires & dreams.

As always, your thoughts & questions are welcome, Richard

Contact me for further details regarding purchasing & shipping these pieces.

Art, Nature & Soul #52

Some of the simplest subjects, make for some of the more compelling paintings. When we set off for home, leaving Ptown, we have got into the tradition of stopping off at Nauset Beach along the Cape Cod coastline.

On this occasion we had picked up breakfast, then stopped at the beach to eat as we were heading off the cape. It’s usually pretty early when we leave 630-7a.m. so the beach is usually pretty vacant, though we have run into the same elderly woman, seemingly doing her morning meditation there, twice now. I have painted her twice now, as well. First time she was sitting oceanside on a massive slab of rock, another she, walking stick in hand, traversing the path, to the top of the sandy cliffs that over look the beach. However this morning, at the beach, was covered in dense fog. Two people were shore fishing and one little bird nestled in the dew covered branches of a pine tree were all the life that could be seen.

The lighthouse swung around beamed across the sky and the fog horn echoed as it blasted through the wet air. We walked along the beach listening to the surf gentle splash upon the sand. It’s an amazing thing, the colors that reveal themselves upon a seemingly grey morning. Wherever the light hit made the colors vivid, a branch, a bird, the sand, sea and air. A lone, unattended Lifeguard Chair revealed itself upon the beach, against the ocean and sky, barely distinguishable one from the other. It seemed the perfect subject in which to find the light and paint the colors it revealed.

After some studying of the surroundings the colors were discovered and painted. Whether I paint on location or back at the studio, I almost always take photo of my subject, sometimes for reference, other times for a record. My color studies are typically done on small hardboard panels. A variety of brushes, palette knives, sculpting tools and tissues were used to convey the more subtle design elements of the scene and a foggy grey morning is transformed.

As always your comment & questions are welcome, Richard

Color Study #24, Off Duty 10”x10” oil on panel

Art, Nature & Soul #51

The idea comes first. Once the basic concept is in my I head though, I’m ready to paint. We painters have our favorites too. The creative process in these works, are a slow burn romance, assessing and re assessing as I add details, build & go on. Here's one of mine from last year, that was a couple months in the making of scribbles, marks & erasures. If you’re painting a person, place or thing, generally you know what they look like, so then you come up with a composition, then execute it to the best of your abilities. With my more abstract artworks, often times, at least with mine, you’re creating the image from scratch, from your imagination, a personified reality. For me, all the same design elements apply to abstract artwork as they do to representational. Most of you know I’ve been working toward merging both types into a singular expression of envisioned thought, Such is the case with “Love’s Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes” .

Here I took the idea from a photo of 2 people embracing in a space, created a composition and broke them down into their essential qualities, and elaborated on them. The Elements of Design are the things that as an artist I work with to create a design, or composition. The Elements are: line, shape, space, value, color and texture. The elements, or principles, of visual design include Contrast, Balance, Emphasis, Movement, White Space, Proportion, Hierarchy, Repetition, Rhythm, Pattern, Unity, and Variety. Again, with the information in front of you visually, representational work is potentially a much easier task. That said, in both disciplines, one of my concerns is that it not look static or contrived. I strive to create a seemingly spontaneous, instinctive, or intuitive yet intended , if you will, visual imagery. Intuitive painting is an opportunity to explore the inner self through the creative process in a safe, critic free environment. ... This approach to painting is focused on mindfulness, creative permission and the act of spontaneous expression., as in automatic.

In this case, after a 5 color splash painting in acrylic, including several interference colors, I sketched out the basic lines within the space & went to work with my oil paints. First blocking in various shapes in color. Once these features are in place the painting leads me as I analyze the various design elements as they begin to emerge. Each layer becomes a stream of conscious methodology of adding and subtracting from the whole and in part the mediums are the message. Adding oil paint to block in shapes, scratching through the layers and erasing as directed by the piece. After a second round with the oil paint, I begin adding line & scribbling with ebony, pencil, grease marker, & oil pastel…each giving their own aesthetic detail and sense of depth. Then enhancing the emerging mythology with 18k gold pen near completion as I add the 18k gold leaf, signing the completed piece.

These artworks evolve over time, with each medium and each layer, I leave and visit the painting, over and over again, evaluating the whole, over months until my vision is complete. I hope you’ve enjoy the journey, making part of it your own too. As always your comments & questions are most welcome.

~Richard

’Love's, Lines, Circles, Angles & Rhymes’ 40”x40” mixed media on canvas

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

Art, Nature & Soul #50

“Technique is the culmination of my vision, expressed.”
-Richard Sperry

Over a quarter century ago, probably more likely 28 years ago, I painted a portrait of a father holding his daughter. I don’t often have the opportunity to do portraits these days as I mostly paint abstracts, landscape and figurative artworks. Recently I had the opportunity to paint the the little girl from the first paintings daughter and her father, and hope to be here to do the next generation, as well.

As a young boy I was very shy and reserved, almost fearful of the world and its people. I believe in an effort to engage me in family events, I was made the camera guy. That’s right they gave me a camera in which to view the world and capture the moments of which, often times I was an insider on the outside, and thus an outsider.

I loved composing and yet capturing a candid moment, with the small kodak automatic, often times and mostly of family and friends, documenting a history, mine. Later I was given a polaroid and than in my early 20’s, I purchased a 35mm camera. Often times I’d draw pictures of what I had taken a photo of. Thinking the literal already existed in the photo, so the renderings were often exaggerations and if they were of people caricatured likeness’s even if in the slightest of ways. The layering and emotional aspects came later. Although even in high school I did commissioned portraits, mostly in soft pastel though. As a young adult, in my early to mid 20s, I had started painting and trying my hand at oil portraits, so I’d use my photos as references , as that’s what I had to work with at the time, and that’s how the first father & daughter portrait happened. One holiday get together, I took lots of photos, but on this occasion I used a half dozen of them as my models. The Naomi & Michael photo, was a tender moment captured on film that I took to the next level, translating it into an oil painting.

Typically, especially back then, I’d do a preliminary sketch, in vine charcoal, although now I mostly use ebony pencil. This to assure both proportion and a good composition on the canvas. The initial painting was created with a larger 1” brush and broad strokes, quickly rendering and shaping the image, outlining in key areas. As the figures were the most important part of this painting I kept the background in shadow with only the slightest of light and color illuminating it and the figures from one lamp. A quarter century or so later, I posted it on Facebook to illustrate a thought. The little girl, all grown up now, with a family of her own, who never knew the painting existed, as it was my earlier figure work, saw it and loved it. I had always intended on giving it to her at some point, as her father had passed on a decade earlier…but now was the time. So after some time, I shipped it to her, her now being out of state. Having received it and loving it, she contacted me and commissioned me to do a portrait of her husband and daughter. And so I did, capturing yet another tender moment in paint, telling her, let’s plan for next generation too, in a playful sentiment.

From crayolas & cameras, to oil paint, my style and techniques have evolved over a lifetime, as I’ve grown into my vision, yet the basic emotional content and message have remained the same. We are connected, we are loved, and we are here in this moment.

Commissions are welcome, as are any questions or comments,

Richard

Mark and Dorthea circa 2021

Michael & Naomi circa 1993ish

Art, Nature & Soul #49

Over the past decade or so, I’ve taken to painting these color studies as a vehicle of experimentation. These painterly sketches are the bridge between my larger, more elaborate representational and abstract artworks , the place where my all my tools, techniques and color schemes first become realized.

Lovingly referred to as Mini-Me’s they are painted Alla Prima, direct and in one sitting, either, En Plein Air (outdoors), from a photo or my imagination…often times all three come into play. The key for me is to not over think it and to paint it matter-of-factly….eyes to brain to hand using an arenol of tools and techniques developed over a lifetime…These of which I keep building upon & adding to, as an artist is always learning.

Whether a flicker of light, the color that only some see on a gray day or a random pattern repeated in nature, I am inspired and compelled to translate and express my experience & vision. Most of these are painted on gesso board and in recent years I’ve taken to using a 12” square format as I had a custom carrier to dry and store them in designed for me, it also fits perfectly in car for traveling. Typically I begin laying in color with brushes. I always paint in the order it would have appeared by design in reality. In other words, in a landscape, the sky is placed in first, land, trees, buildings, animals & persons, if desired. Any other way looks like an after thought to me, especially if the sky has been painted over the tree branches. All design elements are engrained on my brain before I begin to execute the piece. Of course allowing for bits of chaos and play, cause that’s where the magic happens.

I generally begin laying in color with brushes, then close the edges with palette knives, adding more paint & color as I give pattern and direction to the composition, and heighten contrast, plus the intensity of the color, whether they are muted or vivid ones. I’ll use tissues to soften and moved the paint around the panel making it more cohesive and balanced. Then using a sculptural tool to scratch into the image to cut into the layers of color and enhance varied line and patterns, the details flourish. Finally using a vary small brush to add in finishing details…the suggestion of a critter or person, the piece is complete & finalized with my signature.

Here are a selection of my most recent color studies. A great way to begin a collection or add small pieces to an existing one. These are for available for your consideration. I would like to express my deepest gratitude, to all my generous supporters, patrons & collectors, as you make this possible.

As always, feel free to message me with your comments & questions

Richard Sperry

Art, Nature & Soul #48

Fractals, Chaos, Mandelbrot Set, Mandela's, Signs, Symbols, Stories & Dualities, beauty reflecting beauty. Abstract art are those aesthetics under a microscope or a telescope, either so close or so distant that what was once representational has new representation and meaning.

“Art is a language, an instrument of knowledge, an instrument of communication.”

— Jean Dubuffet

I create abstract & representational artworks, plus a fusion of sorts. Each fuel the other as an expression of ideas, thoughts, beliefs and a statement about how I see life, how I experience it, how I share it. I’m often in the unique situ where I’m given a broad range of reactions & critics of my work without the viewer knowing I am it’s creator, in the beginning. Whether its a positive or negative reaction, it’s generally most helpful in growing as an artist and a human. That said, when a connection is made, that’s the best, as I feel I’ve communicated something something shared, with that person.

Here’s one example and an especially important one to me. As the patron does not usually purchase abstract art, but sometimes, often times, I hope art mirrors life.

One of my collectors contacted me. She said that she was sitting in her sunroom, enjoying the day, that her Amaryllis had just opened up and with the sun filtering thru the windows, in a certain way, that my painting had a wonderful glow about it. Then she sent me this image. With that, she certainly brightened my day, as well. It's with the deepest gratitude that I thank all my collectors and all the people that support me & my artwork, whether it be 'likes', comments or artworks acquired. Thank you one & all, may we all have an exceptional year.

Thank You patrons, collectors & patrons, as always your comments are welcome~

Richard

‘Primary Colors’ 31.5”x31.5” framed oil

‘PRIMARY COLORS 30”x30’ oil on canvas

Paint this close up, of an area of the above photo and you have a new abstract painting.

Art, Nature & Soul #47

About 15 years ago, My artwork was exhibited in a Chicago gallery, I was told by the gallery owner, “Some people won’t buy your artwork, if they know you’re gay.” I was doing, in part, more design orientated abstracts at the time, so I simple did a series where I put one stenciled letter in each piece, when laid out in order & together it said, “A Queer Boys Story”. I decided then, enough was enough, no more in & out or hiding!

This piece is a throwback to some of my earliest paintings, some 35 years ago. My teens were fraught with deep confusion, angst & turmoil as I struggled to come to terms with who I was. The mid 1980s in my early 20s I had finally begun to understand who I was, where I fit in & to embrace my sexuality. As I turned 20 I simple proclaimed, “I Am” & continued to play the androgynous, bi guy, for a time, before committing to the male/male scene. Much of the artwork I created then, revolved around exploring these themes & things, in a world that had barely begun to understand, muchless accept a more varied concept of human sexuality. I identify as QUEER & my pronoun is ‘Thone’.

Now as then, these themed artworks were meant to be in your face, in your mind & make you think... A way to say, I am here, so get used to it, over it. In 1962, Illinois, the state I live and grew up in, became the first state to take the archaic sodomy laws off the books. I was born in 64’. By 1982, the year I graduated from high school, HIV/Aids was at the forefront of happenings and we had a president who was doing everything possible to ignore and play it down. It was, “only effecting the homos” anyway, or so they thought. In 2020, we had a president who blindly, knowingly sacrificed hundreds of thousands of Americans to another world wide pandemic, COVID, for his own narrow minded cause….power, money & greed, while at the same time, undermining & rolling back 100s of educated/enlightened/progressive policies, including those designed to acknowledge & integrate the LGBTQ communities in the U.S.A. When your country, your world is at war with you, you fight back, art was/is my vehicle and the message is, I AM!

History is more circuitous than linear, LGBTQ people exist in every culture from the beginning of time, throughout the ebb and flow of acceptability. It’s only when person’s of the ‘ME” instead of the ‘WE’ persuasion, impose their will over human nature that persons of minority become outcast rather than embraced. When you put aside your fears & insecurities, one seeks knowledge, you receive understanding, enlightenment and begin to realize everyone/thing has a purpose and value in the world. With the devastating & brutal attacks on the LGBTQ communities across the planet swinging back around to the U.S.A., I felt compelled to assert my presence as a person who will fight the good fight for whoever is under attack by the masses. Freedom, Equal Rights & Anti Discrimination, for all & to secure for all individuals freedom from discrimination against any individual because of his or her race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or unfavorable discharge from military service.

As mentioned above, while the theme here is one I explored in my artwork some 35 ish years ago. the execution is different in many ways. This piece was painted over a 4 month period of layering and enhancing. I utilize a variety of brushes, palette knives, pencils, paint markers, scratching tools and even tissues to achieve the desired aesthetic. Here we have lots of scribbles, marks & erasures, plus abstract & realistic elements, I began with a 4 color acrylic drip & splatter painting, then began to paint me in, a layer of ebony pencil written graffiti & symbols, oil painted some blocks of color & form, oil pastel enhanced, charcoal stick, 18K gold paint giving more line and symbol, my signature 18k gold leaf addition & then stenciled the unmistakable word QUEER. Next it was time to entitle the piece, ‘Queer AF Selfie’, ‘57 Special’, were on the table, but my original thought stuck, “Portrait of the Artist in His 50s”, 40”square mixed media on canvas was finalized with my signature.

As always feel free to ask question or comment,

Richard R. Sperry

‘Portrait of the Artist in His 50s’ 40”x40” mixed media on canvas $57,000.00 available

DETAIL~

Art, Nature & Soul #46

Earlier this year, summer 2020, I was able to attend the MONET Exhibit at the Art Institute Chicago. Having been creating art since I was a young child & having been in the art, design & custom framing business low these 35 years past, I’ve come to understand that art is a lifelong pursuit, passion & learning experience. Currently on my larger more detailed artworks I’ve been doing more layering of color, especially in my mixed media pieces. Having got up close & studying these master works of Monet’s, I observed, that from a distance, like in a photo our eyes averages the image to their beauty, but that viewing just inches from the surface and having done some reading on the subject, discovered they are but layered amounts of pattern and paint done not, for the most part, in one sitting(alla prima), but many outdoor sessions (en plein air)and finishing up in the studio. As with all things, I’ve taken a more unconventional way of achieving my own goals, in observation and in execution, and in this case a more abstract realistic approach in my artwork, thus ‘Stairway to Heaven’ lyric is constantly playing in my head. But alas, here we are .

“If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
And it makes me wonder”

Zeppelin (Songwriters: Jimmy Page / Robert Plant)

I work from life, photos & my imagination. In this case I took 5 different photos and created the desired composition and dynamic you see here. Each of the photos had different elements I wanted to show and express, from the varied flowers, color & shapes, to the grown over path that runs through the center of the piece. From creating the composition, until its completion took about 3 weeks. It’s all about the layered in mediums and the slow build, in these type works.

In this piece I wanted both the muted undertones, as well as the bright light high key ones. I began, as always with a drip and splatter underpainting, this one in an acrylic prism violet. Then, using a brush, laid in the colors intended, taking my palette knife and blending them together, to a muted coloration, while blocking in shapes, thus creating the preliminary composition to build off of. Once achieved, several palette knives, scratching tools, brushes and tissues were used to move the the paint around to create the image of a natural flower garden. Ebony pencil & 18k gold pen were used to enhance line and give depth. Oil pastel was then used to give more texture, color & pattern, enhancing the broken color and giving the more free design elements of scribble. My trademark of 18k gold leaf was laid in at the top, in the path as light hitting the edge. Taking my palette knife and pure color straight from the tube, I moved about the canvas dropping in bright happy color, thus scratching in my signature, it was complete & posted on social media.

*Me~ Woke up about 1:30am and couldn't get back to sleep, rolled out of bed about 2:30am...had some tea, read some Vonnegut and completed this 48"x24" mixed media piece, but it needs a title, any ideas???

One of the many, many responses was from a collector of my artwork. While I had been reading Vonnegut’s ‘Bluebeard’ ( a tongue in cheek romp through the abstract expressionist movement of the 50s) earlier that morning….Chris’s sentiments reminded of another of K.V.s novels.~

Chris G.

“Visions of Vonnegut. Very cool.”

In 79’-80’ish I read 'Slapstick' it was my first Kurt Vonnegut read. I was immediately hooked. If you haven't read it, it's a futuristic tale in which all the people of the world are assigned middle names, of flowers randomly. Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain, is the main character. Which ever flower you are, connects you to all the other like flowers, as family, so you are never alone. I'm partial to sunflowers, so that makes me Richard Sunflower-1 Sperry. What’s your flower? Are we family? Here’s where we all gather, mingle and dance, in the sun and a light breeze. After some thought a variation was settled on.

'Vonnegut's Garden' 48"x24" framed (a white traditional frame, as seen or a more contemporary clean line, black frame, its your choice) mixed media on canvas, $2400.oo. (plus a complimentary mini-me 12" square oil of your choice a $350.oo value). Message me with further questions on how this can be acquired. It can be shipped. (free mini-me of your choice with purchase of ‘Vonnegut’s Garden’ expires 12/31/2020)

preliminary underpainting, an abstract

Vonnegut’s Garden/completed

Center detail

framed in a traditional white, though a contemporary clean line black, works well too.

a more contemporary, clean line, black frame

Art, Nature & Soul #45

*For me, the best thing about Facebook, has been connecting with friends and family, meeting new people from all over the country and even more so, the world. Early November last year 2019, one of my Facebook friends, an artist in France, posted that her grandson had passed on. I was moved, even more so feeling compelled by an overwhelming sense of compassion to create a memoriam, a tribute, a painted 'Homage to Francis' , her grandson, a person I did not know, for a person I know only through Facebook. I gathered from her posts the information needed, hoping to honor his life, in some small way, from the brief glimpse I was allowed to share in. My greatest desire was to convey that when a young person is taken so soon, when they pass on, that you are not alone, for the whole world mourns with you and for them. To create a visual assertion that sometimes what may look like the sun setting, is really the sun rising. To say, we are one, of one world, one love, and in this oneness that we are not separate, but completely, utterly and powerfully connected...always.

After gathering images & info to work from, I choose a 36” square stretched canvas and did a tonal drip & splatter in prism violet as a base color in which to do my preliminary figure sketch & wash upon. Using my oils blocking in the shapes, the figure began to emerge. I tend to work wet in wet, however in this piece some dry brush enhancement and details were added over time. Next, using ebony pencil & 18k gold marker, a bit of graffiti was added in both word and symbols. Each symbol & word, were meaningful additions to the memoriam. Some were direct pieces of information & images from his life. A few like a victor Hugo quote, important dates, his name FRANCIS, were all carefully added, as were the symbolic imagery, such as my trademark figure 8 or mobius strip, representing eternity. Also the signature addition of 18k gold leaf was added toward it’s completion. In this case, depicting the soul as an angel. A multitude of others exist within the composition if one takes the the time to look for them and ponder their meaning, as does the expression on his face suggest. As usual I tried not to over think my approach, but let my emotions & more intuitive instincts prevail.

"I say that on the tomb , which on the dead closes - Open the firmament . - And what here below we take for the end - Is the beginning ." ~Victor Hugo

Upon completion, I contacted & messaged my Facebook friend showing & telling her what I had done and affirming that it was painted with the utmost respect & love, asking permission to post it. She responded~

“Many thanks dear Richard for your paint , I like very much your hommage of Francis , je vais partager”

J.R.-R.

The response was a success & overwhelming, the ‘Homage to Francis’ seemed to speak to and reach the hearts of those I had hoped to.

Art should speak volumes to the time in which its created, to the thoughts, the people, & places of those fleeting moments we call life. My sincerest hope is that this piece does.

As always your comments are welcome.

~Richard

'Homage to Francis' 36"x36" mixed media on canvas

Homage to Francis’

Detail

Art, Nature & Soul #44

So it was, I had a title in my head and set out to express it, paint it…’WILD ABANDON’. I had three 36” square stretched gallery wrapped canvases ready, in which to do so. My thought was to make each panel strong enough to stand on their merit, but wanted a unifying thread. After some thought, the idea of a cardio rhythm was settled on, combined with certain universality in all things. A life in 3 parts conveyed, the first being birth through adolescents, second, the young adult through middle age & the third panel, the waning years and the heartbeat stops, to the unknown & ubiquitous nature of things.

And so it began, a drip & splatter layer of lemon yellow, followed by another in prism violet, enhanced by an interference green then blue coat, all in acrylic paint. Then I drew the cardio rhythm in and began working my oil paint palette on the canvases in an intuitive, but concise manner. Moving between the oil paint plus ebony pencil, 18k gold paint & white china marker, I added symbols, both known & unknown ones created and designed specifically for this composition. Layer upon layer, creating scribbles, marks and erasures, where needed to complete the intended dynamic, emotional impact & elements of design, such as line, direction, shape, size, texture, value, and color. Working back into the canvases & sometimes over them in both oil paint & oil pastels, over a month 1/2 or so, nearing completion, black charcoal & 18k gold leaf are added and carried through in each panel. After considerable visual re-evaluations & assessments, it was complete.

I had posted a detail of one of the sections while I've been working on this piece. One of my Friends asked. "What's your inspiration?" This was my answer~ "Life and all it's complexities. Especially in my abstracts, layer by layer, pattern by pattern, expressing the idea of fractals, chaos, unity plus the thought that all life is connected, in these things, from the tiniest to the largest. Sometimes what looks like the sun setting is really the sun rising. For continuity, I used a monitor heartbeat as the vehicle in which to carry through the 3 images" ~me

Those who know me, know I’ve been raising Shiba Inu pups for the past 25 years. So, I went to post a photo of the pups on Shibaholics on FACEBOOOK and accidently posted along with the photo of the pups, this artwork, plus a Ganesha sculpture, I own along with it…here's the conversation that transpired between a few members~

Jenn Barber M.

What’s the artwork and that light blue piece?

Ann S.

shiba ears = heartbeat rhythm?

Ann S.

Very interesting either way tho I say maybe he will add more input

Jenn Barber M.

Yeah, that’s why I was wondering. I really like the pieces!

Ann S.

Jenn Barber M., then again Blaze could be represented by the flames like pattern in painting and could that be blue jade or amber (dog names) hmmm

Ann S.

The blue symbol

I need a nap

Image of Ganesh Poster a3 India Hindu Elephant God for Success Pri... Lord Ganesha POSTER reproduction print for home wall'

Jenn Barber M.

By the time he responds, we will have already made up our own stories. The blue thing must be a still-frozen dog treat left behind from a glacier.

Ann S.

hahahha right?!?

Richard R. Sperry

Sorry, I'm an artist. Must have all been in the file and yes, I love the stories you've created. That's what it's all about. I'm an artist and the Ganesha is a larimar sculpture I have. I love how you all created stories though. Sorry it took time to respond.

Richard R. Sperry

Ann S. & Jenn Barber m.

, you both have me laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my face....Thank You!

Jenn Barber m.

Ann, would you believe we were wrong? Lol. But I really like the painting, Richard! Enjoy your vacation.

Sheryl S.

Keep the storyline going. This is fun.

Available, contact me for further info. As always, your thoughts & comments are welcome,

Richard

WILD ABANDON, in 3 parts, each panel is a 36” square mixed media on canvas

WILD ABANDON, in 3 parts, each panel is a 36” square mixed media on canvas

Detail from 3rd panel

Framed 112”x38” and available at Proud Fox Gallery & Frame Shop

Art, Nature & Soul #43

Mini-Me’s~Are a more raw & direct approach to my painting. Most certainly completed in one sitting, they assert & express, my more intuitive & free associative natures. These are the pieces I most experiment with, pushing the color combos, textures & general approach, with a matter-of-fact intent …Alla-Prima.

Playing in the paint, immersed in the color, & bathing in the light, my tools are ready to translate the world around me. I had in the past been working on various size canvas/panels for these smaller artworks, but this year I’ve decided to stick to the 12'“ square panel format, as I had a great carrier created for traveling with them. Initially intended for my Plein air works, it also works as a perfect drying rack. Working mostly from my own photo references, life, imagination & plein air work, over this past year, as the pandemic has limited my abiltity to travel and get new references. Recently, I have on occassion also incorperated, when inspired, Facebook friends & family, photos, as references for these studies. Usually a big no-no for me, as I have always worked from & used my own experiences & references in previous years. Now, though, inspiration is sweet inspiration, besides I’m not a literal interpreter of the more realistic.

My aresenol of supplies & tools, are an expanded palette, of color, color & more color. Having learned the limited palette of Rembrandt near 3 decades ago and knowing how to expand the color variety within that limit of, Titanium White, Ivory Black, Yellow Ochre & Venetian Red, I now challenge myself to create, blend, layer & mix new colors, to push the palette to a sublte extreme. As stated I’m using panel, ‘Richeson 12”x12” gessoed hardboard to paint on, for the most part. Then a variety of brushes, palette knives, scratching tools, sculpting tools, make-up applicators, kleenex, my fingers, medium & finishing varnish.

These artworks can be framed or placed on an easel, as they are. They are small, so they are easy and inexpensive to ship. Whether a collector, or new to the scene, they’re a great way to expand or start an art collection.

As always, feel free to comment or contact me if interested in acquiring a ‘SPERRY’ original.

Thank you

Richard Sperry

Art, Nature & Soul #42

My Muse~Beginning about 10 years ago, my daily routine included a 5-10 minute, morning quick sketch. A doodle or drawing of a facebook friend, from some photo they’d posted. It was usually a person or animal, that would catch my attention. The idea was to force me to see, apply an automatic drawing sensibility, to how I saw and put it down on paper without over thinking it. It was great fun and the results were an enlightening excersize. Sometimes their natural state of beauty & vulnerablility, being of both a physical & emotional presence, captures my attention & imagination. Such is the case with Nathan, which began with a simple gesture, a line sketch of his face, that exudes an uncanny depth of character & soulfulness, you know “je ne sais quoi”.

After contacting Nathan and getting his permission to continue drawing him, I found a beautiful person & compelling subject in him, and so I began painting him as well. What intrigues us, compells us to create. Faces are always of great interest and intrigue to me. They have the possibility to speak volumes in a single look. The soulfull eyes of a free spirit penetrate all, in their gaze. A unique nose has always fascinated me, as well…Personality, with a fearless zest for life, he wears every piercing, gage, tattoo and line in his face as a triumphant and well earned, battle scare of sorts, in some unwritten tribal & communal right of passage. For all those who take the road less traveled, he seems to say, “this way, I’ll leave a trail.”

From simple line drawings in pencil and pen & ink to portrait studies in acrylic and oil, my muse captured my imagination. So, we’d work a pose as I began to paint full figures, as well, some in real space and others in imagined. At one point I painted him more realistic, but in an abstract space, in oil, then still another, and finally merging him in one more piece, more recently, a comtemporary abstract realist painting, a mixed media, all with my signature mark of 18k gold. Drawing and painting someone, over and over again, is really a quite intimate affair, whether admitted or not. It reveals as much about the artist as the subject, again reuntiting my inner rebel & my former youth. What I have realised most, is that I have a unique & ever distinct way of seeing, one that goes back to middle school, of my first recollection. It seems, more than a likeness, but a way of capturing the essence & energy, of the true spirit of that person of interest. It’s with much gratitude, to all those who serve as inspiration and models for my imagination that I say thank you, with special recognition & appreciation for having served for many, many years as my muse, Nathan…one of the beautiful people.

As always, feel free to comment & ask questions,

~Richard

Nathan

Art,Nature & Soul #41

I was working at a higher end art gallery & frame shop, & had taken a brief 4 year respit from painting, to learn the business well, & from trying to make my mark on the world. HA! Toward the end of 2004, we took a trip to Bar Harbor, Maine, third week of October. It was B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L. I’d not uttered that word, that often, before or since. I think it was, in part, the fall colors and light were especially spectacular that year. In any case I began painting some more post impressionist landscapes, some with figures, in oil. I’ve always embraced experimentation in my artwork & have a had a great many influences, from both the living and dead artists club. Before long I was getting in the groove, again. About a year later, a loved one took ill & in a few short months, passed on. During this time, with these things happening simultaneously, I had begun a series of paintings, that would change the direction of my life.

Being the highly sensitive person I am, and with a departure from my regular post impressionist work, I began drawing on some ideas and techniques I began playing with 15 years prior. Cathartically, as a therapy, the drip & splatter beginnings are my way of finding and getting in touch with the rhythms of nature…life. Hence, nearly all my artwork begins with a tonal colored, drip and splatter,base coat of paint. Utilzing acrylic paints, in layered glazes, then incorporating both irridescent & interference paints, that both reflect the color and refract the light, the process becomes a meditaton as the layers are applied. Using primarily earth tone paints, both brush and palette knive were used to create some of the pattern and the more representational aspects of the composition. An abstract with a horizon line, plus both drip & splattered opaque colors were used over the more translucent ones. My emotions were high, when not caring for my friends health, I worked on these artworks, creating 6 pieces in my sorrow and grief. He passed on and I completed the series, soon after.

I suppose the imagery & symbols, are obvious to most. The tree of life, transendence and the oneness of being, all life connected, stardust and collective unconsiousness. Oddly, in hindsite, the image created was one I had concieved when I was about 13, during the passing of another loved one. So, I brought them in to the art gallery, I worked at, all 6 sold in an unsually short time & I was in in awe. My mantra became “Just do it, with pride” and I began daily painting and marketing of my artwork. All of us, everyone of us is worthy of being and doing whatever it is we want from life & there’s an audience for each of us. Time is fleeting, there are no guarnatees. If you have a notion to be someone more then your are now, to create, to dance, to paint, to write, if you have a song in your heart, let it out. The worst that can happen, is you will have created something, the best thing will be that you’ve shared yourself, your humanity with someone else.

Feel free to ask questions or comment,

Richard

‘Transitions 1’ 68”x56” framed acrylic, Sold, in private collection

Art, Nature & Soul #40

Contemporary Abstract Realism~Again, I turn to Fractals, like patterns within patterns, where as the echoe creates & defines the whole of the big picture. Chaos, is the unlike variable within all scenarios, that are inevitable, if not invited. Here I’ve created a composition using representational images, landscape, buidings, and figures, breaking them down to their essential elements to create a more abstract expressionist composition. A bit of grafitti, drawing and words have been layered within, to provide both context and a more contemporary image. Where by, each viewing, can be a new discovery for the viewer.

This is a commissioned piece, entitled, 'Gold On the Green' at 74.5" x 50.5" and has been delivered and hung in its new home. It was a challenging piece, based on the St. Andrews Golf Course, Scotland. If you look closely, you'll find the City of St Andrews, the old clubhouse, a monolith, the Swilcan Bridge, 2 golfers, a map of the the old, new and adjacent courses and numerous golf terms , written in throughout. This piece took months of building up, and tearing down, to create a contemporary, yet desired balance between representational and abstract qualities. It now hangs in the collectors game room, which has an ample play area and a mini-golf course, taboot.

It's a mixed media piece, where the the splash of 18k gold leaf, has become my trademark signature of sorts, in these type artworks. I began by layering acrylic paint, including both interference & irridescents, in my drip & splash manner. Then began adding oil, blocking in shapes & color. Glazing over to knock down, having to many literal representational figures, leaving just a suggestion. Then added oil pastel for enhanced contrast and line. Ebony pencil is used to add more line, symbols, maps, words and text within the layers. Finally 18k gold paint is used for enhanced line, 18k gold leaf is applied, then a final glaze, in this case, for added cohesion.

Al always your comments & quetions are welcome.

~Richard Sperry

‘Gold On The Green’ 74.5”x50.5” framed mixed media on canvas SOLD, (in private collection)

GOLD ON THE GREEN 72”x48” mixed media on canvas

DETAIL

Framed. in it’s new home.

Art, Nature & Soul #39

In 2006 I began an 8 piece series of artworks under the theme ‘fragments’, on the nature of existence. They seem timely & perhaps, more relevant today. It took several years to complete them & in 2009, three were on exhibition entitled ‘Transformations’ at the Norris Cultural Center, here in Saint Charles, Illinois.

Not unlike Shakespeares poem ‘The Seven Stages of Man’, a favorite passage of mine.

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

I set out to explore my own themes in mixed media & incorporating found objects. In some cases some very personel objects from my own life history, as I believe all art created, is autobiographical in nature & regard.

A journey of a lifetime, entitled in a life progression, such is the paradox of being human as folllows~

Nothingness & Being, Cultivate & Incapacitate, Indifference & Impartiality, Sentiment & Pragmatism, Wisdom & Folly, Civilty & Madness, Regeneration & Frailty, Sleep & Dream

Within the chaos of our lives there are certain symbols and archetypes, that are simple & beautiful truths that connect us all together. The tree is an ancient and varied symbol throughout history and in most all cultures. While the olive tree is typically a symbol of peace, different trees have different meanings, throughout the world. I have chosen, in part, oak tree leaves as one of the most important symbols that are incorporated in all 8 pieces. As  It's a symbol of strength, morale, resistance and knowledge, my tree of life or figuratively speaking, a mobius strip connecting us throughout time & space forever. We’re all, just star stuff, to be sure.

If we take the time to find those things we have in common, rather than focusing on the differences, we can find a mutual understanding of each other. With respect & common decency…more then the pretty or the beautiful, we find that a sublime connection of oneness reveals itself, if we only look with eyes wide shut.

Partial list of mediums and objects include~oak substrate, leaves & bark, acrylic & oil paints, ebony pencil, paint marker, charcoal , oil pastel, india ink, photgraphy, coins & stamps, compass, copper wire & rods, mirror, granite, a variety of drawings and smaller paintings incorpoated, as well as many others.

(*interestingly, I took a single 12” square mirror and broke into 8 varied pieces, added 1 piece to each of the 8, so each individual person can see themselves and when the mirror is put together, see each other and ourselves when joined symbolicaly.)

Please enjoy, consider & contemplate, their meaning and see yourself, see me, see us. buried within the fractal patterns within the chaos.

The 1st image is a promotional card, created for the exhibit. The 2nd, a collage of all 8 works compiled into one. Please, feel free to comment and ask questions,

Richard Sperry

All 8, 48”x48” pieces in collage

Art, Nature & Soul #38

'The Conversation' is a mixed media extravaganza. With each medium, a new layer is used in the message thats being communicated. But what is the story being told? It's different for each person, to be sure.

My studio was packed jammed with old & new art materials / paintings when I began working on this piece. I literally had, 1-2 feet in front of me, to paint it. Over 30 years ago I developed a technique in acrylic paints using interference/irricescents, layering & glazing them in a drip and splatter method, giving a wonderful translucence and uncanny sense of depth & perspective, as my first coats. Next I used my oil paints to block in and create shapes. (note, oil can be used over acrylic, but not the opposite). Because of the large size and the very narrow space I was painting in. I found myself running the painting outside to the front yard to get some distance from and perspective on what was being developed. As the design became clearer I just went with it, free will & association. Adding bits of charcoal, scribbles in oil pastel, line work in ebony pencil & finally some 18k gold leaf, in a fractal meets chaos approach.

When completed, this piece read on several levels. Close up almost as a petroglyph or hieroglyph of sorts, or perhaps a map. From a distance, I had many occassions to hear the stories created from viewers. Most persons saw figures and created elaborate dialogues from within. One story created by one such couple, as told. They saw two people standing at a pub table in some cavernous pub in the UK. The two were being entertained by a magician who stands off to the right throwing a gold hankerchief as the magic happened, and they continued to eleborate. It was great fun to hear these two, & to hear them turn my painting into their adventure. To me that’s exactly what art should do, each person making it their own, on their terms. Many others shared stories of what they saw in this painting, too. What great fun it was to hear from each of them participate.

I couldn’t have been more thrilled when it was acquired and found its home in a downtown highrise at a Chicago City Law Firm. The Conversation, made sense there as it was in a more public veiwing space, to be pondered and enjoyed. As an artist, it doesn’t get any better.

 Mediums used~(acrylic & oil paint, oil pastel, charcoal, 18k gold leaf & ebony pencil on 20oz, cotton duck canvas) & framed in a clean lined floater frame, gold face and warm black grained sides.

SOLD 'The Conversation', 70"x40" mixed media on canvas

THE CONVERSATION

Chicago Law Office

Detail

Art, Nature & Soul #37

I’m so grarteful to those who have offered support, encouragement & sweet inspiration on this, my creative/artistic journey of exploration & discovery.

In grade school, as a young boy of six, in first grade, I recall Mrs. Clark, my art & music teacher. With her natural charisma, humor, and the joy & bliss she brought to every situation, she made expression a natural and accepted thing for me to do. In the music portion, she taught us more folk interpretation & I still love it. Then for the art section, one early March, we were to do a drawing for St. Patricks Day observance. Being partly Irish, with a Grandmother whos home was full of Irish blessings, this boy of 6 was geared to go. bahaha. The classroom was decorated for the holiday and on the door was a paper cut out of a Leprechaun, so I drew it, with my 64 color box of crayolas. Several months later it was selected for the gradeschool exhibition and competion. I remember looking at the massive wall of art, then low and behold, I had received 1st place. It wasn’t so much the winning that appealed to me, as it was knowing I had created it and was being validated and encouraged for doing so. In 2nd grade, Mrs. Clark then awarded me a certificate of merit, which became an art scholarship, in which I went to art classes thru the park district. I was up for the award in 3rd & 4th grades as well, & I received a second placement one year. Advocating the arts, was one of my grade school friends mother, who was picture lady & she always brought in iconic reproductions by some of the worlds finest artists works, that were part of the permanent collection at the Art Institute Chicago, the museum we field triped to often. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Dali’s Invention of Monsters, Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, a Degas, a Renoir, a Chagall, Warhol & of course the Monet’s, are most remembered.

There is a notation in my gradeschool info, by my mother… when asked what he wants to be, when he grows up, “Ricky says, ‘An Artist’ ” & I was off to middle school. I loved music, writing, science and of course art, and was frequently involved in special projects regarding each of them. My mothers brother, my Uncle Bobby, would sit for us on occassion. I remember a time where we sat at the kitchen, he encouraging and coaching me as I drew. Another Uncles wife, my Aunt Joan was a artistic type. She’d come to some of my school music events and inspire me with her artworks. One piece she did was a large pastel cityscape. I recall studying it and thinking, I wish I could do that and wonder if I could do it as well. I still have it in my art collection. Mrs. O’Neil was my 7th & 8th grade art teacher, a gentle and radiant being, I think may have had a little crush on her, to be truthful. That said, 2 art projects and her guidance, stand out for me. One was a fairly large musical instrument collage, that I used a book of wallpaper in which to create it. There’s a photo of it, somewhere around here. Another still, was a sculpture, where I took a random scrolled block of wood & used it as a base, spinning copper wire into a figure of a french artist, beret and everything, standing at an easel. She gave great praise for that one, unfortunatley it disappeared into the vast space of the past.

At some point in middle school I saw Kirk Douglas portray Vincent Van Gogh in ‘Lust For Life’ and I was seriously hooked on creating art. Now off to High School nearly all my elective courses were art or humantities. I recall several art teachers, one being Mr. Kampka, a fun loving eccentric who taught humanties and film, who fostered my love of the arts. I had several courses with Ms. Petersen who seemed to have a handle on my inner angst & turmoil, yet gently & enthusiasticly moved me forward. My friend Scott and I had several art classes together, cartooning being one where we had a playful drawing bantor going between us. I’d sit in most of my classes sketching, drawing & cartooning my teachers and classmates & they’d egg my on, collecting them for themselves, many of whom I did more formal soft-pastel portraits for, at some point. Dad, got me a commisssion gig designing and painting a large resteraunt sign & Mom gave me my fist professional set of pastel and floor easel, that I use to this day. College was not a direct route, but I took classes when I was able. At College of Dupage, the first real painting I completed was 5x6 foot and strapped to the roof of my car, teach encouraged my use of symbols and mythology. My sculpting class was more figurative and my output more surreal, both teach and students must have liked them, as they almost always went missing. At Kishwakee Jr. College I took an Art History Class and wrote a term paper on the DaVinci & the Mona Lisa and how it factored in modern culture, in which I I truly learned an appreciation of all the ways in which people have expressed themselves in the eras in which they’ve lived. At the Art Institute Chicago, adult education, a Rembrandt style painting class involving live models thrilled me. The teacher, who’s name I cannot rememebr now, saw something in what I was doing as she took me through the school to show me what it was all about, the possibilities, and invited me to study with her at her studio in Oak Park, although I was unable to do so, at the time. Creating art became the balance act & ballast of my life.

Since then, each commission, each collected artwork, is a sign post moving me forward. Encouragement & accomplishment, the long & short of it, whatever your life situation is, you can move forward and do what you can do, when you can do it, if you only decide too & always look to those peolple that encourage that internal dream, whether secret or revealed.

1st place blue ribbon at age 6 by 8, an art scholarship

Art, Nature, & Soul #36

Things to think over and simplify: Climate Shift,

We changed the term 'Global Warming' to 'Climate Change' because, way to many folks were assuming that if it wasn't hotter where they lived, that it wasn't happening. So here's the real deal. Between the current time frame when the earth started warming, this time, and until the time in which the growing tempreture hits its peak plateau and stabilizes, the once, somewhat predictable weather patterns will now be more chaotic until the shift occurs complete, to a significant slow down, leaving the planet significantly warmer, for now i.e. ice caps melted. It's true that the earth has had natural chaotic shifts in the past, volcanic induced, ice agic, ones & even a mini ice age in Europe about 1650 and many before. I've seen, witnessed and heard from others first hand of these more current, dramatic & chaotic weather systems & patterns, just on my/ their travels and where I/they live , even more so in the past 3 years. Just a few examples are, St Augustine Florida, a place we frequeunt regularly, statiscally has hurricanes every 17 years, had ones in 2016,2017, 2018, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, also frequented, had a triple Nor’easter in 2018 and the entire cape coast had been destroyed by storms in 2016-2018 as well, our winters, here in Illinois, have been very unpredictable & especially cold for our area, with dramatic shifts for almost a decade, a friend was telling me of the chaotic shifts in rainfall, causing dangerous flash flooding throughout Texas & then you have the massive/beyond comprehension/destructive force of the drought/bushfires in Australia, 2019-2020, that have inevitably sent whole species of animal and plant into the extintion.

However, with this noted, it should also be noted that human expansion has been responsible for the extinction of 500 species since the 1900s, 60%, of all animals just since 1970s, 600 plants in the past 250 years and then there's deforestation, which is an extremely complex issue. It's Oxygen/Osmosis, so we need to address it though. Human world population was approximately 500 billion in 1500ad and 1650 billion in 1900ad, that kind of growth consumes everything in its path and emits/creates an enormous amount of waste. So while climate shifts happen naturally, it's also true that our human activities have sped this one up and will continue to do so, unless we have an intervention. Remember the hole in the ozone, we took steps & intervened with what scientists had discovered was causing it. Now in 2019 its at its record smallest since its discovery in 1982. Long story short, the majority of academics & scientists of all types/sorts agree on these issues, thus, they are who we should be listening to and those that support a fact based reality.Facts based on logic, logic is math and math logic. A CLIMATE SHIFT is happening, you are living in it, there are things we can do collectively to slow it down and perhaps even reverse some of it it’s more negative effects, but time is of the essence, there is a point of no return, for much of the life here, including the human population.

Simply, we have many of the tools at hand to accomplish the goal. The primary deficit lies with having the correct people in charge. Those who are not indifferent to, but concerned with the well being of all life here on earth.

Thanks for listening, be part of the solution, Richard

'Artemis, Stranded' 18"x14" oil by Richard Sperry (2018) This was one of the scenes after a triple Nor’easter ravaged the Cape Cod, MA coastline. In spring 2018 we visited Ptown Cape Cod Ma. It was a couple months after the triple Nor’easter but the damage was done and is still recovering. Here’s one of the fishing boats still hung up on a breaker wall.

Art, Nature & Soul#35

I don’t know if it’s art, but it’s certainly, quite the performance, poetic & funny, as well.

*Thoughts on Bananas, has everybody gone...? ~I do not like them warm, I do like them frozen & dipped in chocolate, making me generally indifferent to the plight of the banana as a food, as they do not factor significantly in my life. But, that's me & I can be a real piece of work at times...others however, really, reeeeeally like them! Especially if they involve duct tape. Then they're willing to spend $120,000. for said banana. C'est la vie !

That said, when I was in High School, 79' ish,as a sophomore, in speech class, we had an assignment. Me being generally, the shy, quiet type, who did not like being on stage with an intense fear of being laughed at, had figured out a way to assure that I was laughed with, instead of at, or at least, that was my thinking.

My speech was to be on, "How To Peel A Banana". Me being a fan of the film 'Alien' and comedian Gallahger had come up with a simple idea. Like the original graphic for 'Alien', I went to the chalk board and drew a picture of a banana on a grid and wrote beneath it, "In space no one can peel it." In the original film graphic was the image of an alien egg on the grid and the words, "In space no one can hear you scream". Then with a bunch of bananas, in hand, I individually took one at a time, trying various comedic approaches to getting them out of the peel. One using a potato masher, two a hammer, three squishing it in my hands, four smashing it under my foot & five slicing/stabbing it with a knife. I tried several other approaches, including a meat tenderizer, as the speech went on, with the class roaring with laughter. It went on until I finally pulled out another banana in which I had sewed a zipper on, unzipped it, pulled out a piece of boloney that I had stuffed it with, saying, "If this boloney doesn't work, try this," to which I took the last banana and peeled it normally, taking a big bite out of it, saying blaaahk, that turned to an ear to ear smile on my face, the end. A+ Leading me to the theisis,'What is the use of a banana, if not to peel and eat?"

"Tra la la, la la la la…

One banana, two banana, three banana, four.
Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more.
Over hill and highway the banana buggies go
Comin' on to bring you The Banana Splits Show."

Briefly, as I’ve expounded on this in another blog~In the late 80s, I was in my early twenties, there were 3 extremely controversial art exhibits. One, 1988, a painting of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in drag, two, 1989, the American flag displayed on the floor, with guests invited to walk across it and sign a guest book, three, 1989, art photographer recently deceased of AIDS complications, Robert Mapplethorpe, NY City exhibit closed as profanity. My reaction was too create my own surreal painting merging all three aspects as a rebutt to the controverisial aspects. I still have this painting, tried to show it at “WORLD TATTOO GALLERY" back in the day, but to controversial, bahaha. In short, all of the arts are about communication, everything from the earliest cave paintings in France to bananas, duck taped to walls and eaten in 2019, even if you do not like what it has to say. Besides everythings worth, what someones willing to pay for it, at least to them. Here we are, at the beginning of a new decade, with new ideas and thoughts, so, be sure you convey yours.

*Note to self~ Go to the Art Institute Chicago, by January 26, 2020, see the 'Warhol' exhibit, a 'Top Banana' of 60's pop art movement, then peruse the museum, take it all in and if there's time, hit a few of the art galleries in the area. Oh, btw, Andy Warhol also produced at least one of Velvet Undergrounds albums. Now thats one cool banana pop icon! Become a member of the AIC and explore the diverse artistic visions throughout history ;>