Richard Levine
Richard Levine is a painter and photographer whose professional career has spanned more than 30 years in the graphic arts working for prominent design firms and corporate clients. He studied oil painting for four years with artists Alan Turner and Andrew Lattimore. Extensive travel throughout the United States, Europe and Asia have formed the foundation for his personal work. "I'm interested in exploring the harmonious effects of light, texture, shape and color and presenting these qualities in ways that evoke memory and spirit".
Richard has exhibited widely on the East Coast from Virginia to Maine in both solo and group shows. In 2005 he won a NY State Certificate of Merit for his exhibit: India, A Traveler's Reflections. He has done photo documentary work in the refugee camps of Darfur with the International Medical Corps and in Mississippi with Mississippi State Univ and The Anne E. Casey Foundation. His work is held in both private and public collections.
Artist Statement: For the past several years I have concentrated on one of my favorite techniques: pastel. From color studies, sketches and photos made in the field I produce a finished work on heavy sanded pastel paper. Pastel is a wonderful medium for capturing the color of light and air; when holding a stick of pure pigment in one's hand, ideas and emotions seem to flow more easily and intuitively from the brain to the hand to the paper.
I like to paint in places where the weather, the traditions and the geography still dominate; where these elements identify and characterize a locale. Where I can still connect to what has gone before and one feels an authentic "sense of place".