Richard Henry
ABOUT
Richard Henry began his formal art education at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh under the watchful eye of American Master Harold F. Edmonds and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree (BFA) from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1979. After college, Richard entered the workplace as a commercial artist, building an outstanding career as art director and technical illustrator with technology firms, including IBM and Lockheed Martin. Throughout those years, Mr. Henry also continued his devotion to fine art, mastering many different paint mediums including oil, watercolor and graphite, developing his unique artistic language and continuously exhibiting his paintings at galleries and art shows throughout the Northeast and New England.
In 2009, Richard retired from his successful commercial art career to dedicate his full energy and passion to painting. The power of music, nature, landscapes, art history, and a passion for beauty in all things, provides Richard an endless supply of subjects to paint.
More recently the Plein Air movement has inspired him to go forward with a new sense of inspiration. Painting directly within nature and working from life in the field has been a very rich source of energy for Richard. With his early years exploring the beauty and landscapes of his native Pennsylvania and roots on his family farm the cast was set. Plein air events in the ADK mountains, New England and Arizona have been exciting and rewarding – providing Mr. Henry with new ideas for content and technique and opportunities to collaborate with a network of Plein Air professional artists. His recent painting trip to with friend and Master Artist Gary Dixon to Ireland was especially rewarding.
An Adjunct Instructor at SUNY Broome teaching adult education classes in watercolor and drawing for the past nine years, Richard shares his lifetime of knowledge and passion for art with students in the classroom and at private lessons and workshops across area.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I was imprinted as a young boy with the desire to create art. I have spent my entire adult life working as an illustrator, graphic designer, painter and instructor. I enjoy the entire creative process from start to finish.
My interest in the visual arts has been a real journey and has taken me to some really fascinating places. There is nothing else I would rather be doing. I have never regretted the path I chose and as I work on new subjects and try new methods its as exciting as ever. My subjects are non- political, I am not out to make a statement other than that I enjoy the view from rounding every corner. By reading, studying, traveling and learning from the masters It is both challenging and rewarding to find progress, even if it’s just small steps. Over the past nine years I have been working mostly from life and trying to capture the moment. It is not easy and when it works, it’s a thrill. The Plein Air movement has been rewarding a on all levels and even though I have a sense of accomplishment, I am rarely satisfied. I want to do this as long as I can, results are hard to get but one has to keep working to get them I heard a line not long ago that went like this”
You don’t have to be good to start, but you have to start to be good.
That says it all.
CONTACT
Email: henry.artist1@gmail.com
Website: www.richardhenryfineart.com
Facebook: @richard.henry.3382