Dick Richards Blogs

I have been accused of not having a consistent painting style. I plead guilty. I have also been accused of not caring about focal points. Guilty again. I begin a painting with a color and a process for making paint move; maybe spattering Cadmium Or... 

“Be present. Let go. Disappear.” It is a kind of mantra that I repeat when beginning a painting, and sometimes during the process. It is a reminder to enter into and remain in a particular state of mind, to get into the “zone” that produces m... 

The question I am asked most often about my art is some version of, “Do you start with something in mind?” My answer is, “Yes, but what I have in mind is probably not what you would expect. It is never an object, person, or place. What I have i... 

When I began painting in the abstract I had no real sense of the relationship between what I was doing and the artistry of musicians, jazz musicians in particular. I am no musician. Oh, I flirted with percussion many years ago and even attended a wee... 

I occasionally speak out loud to a painting in progress. Usually I ask a question, something like, “What do you want?” Or, if the painting is not responding to my questions, I will utter a frustrated, “Talk to me. Talk to me.” When I behave t... 

"Things cannot remain in stillness forever." ~ Deng Ming-Dao A little over a year ago I set out to discover if I could bring the intuitive mindset that produced many successful abstract acrylic paintings to working with watercolor. At first, I produ...