Suffolk County Council, Woodbridge Library, New Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1DT
04 Jun 2018 10:00am - 31 Jul 2018, 7:30pm

ArtLib at Woodbridge Library

“A Baker’s Dozen” – drawings and paintings by Michael Richards A collection of drawings and paintings on a range of themes, from Martha Stewart’s peppermint fudge to the beauty of the bergamot, from Toscanini as an Englishman to the joy of swedes. I’ve always found that the medium dictates my style. Painting in acrylics makes me want to paint in layers, effective for still life paintings such as Bergamot in this exhibition. Pen and ink is less forgiving, more precise, so I use it for illustration and drawing from the imagination. Pencil is more delicate, allowing intricate shading and the layering of tones while pastel is ‘drawing as painting’, giving the opportunity to produce work that lies somewhere between the two. I’ve drawn since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Now, many years later, I can’t imagine not drawing, thinking about things to draw or looking at drawings by other people. For many years drawing was just something I did with no intention of showing it to anyone beyond a small circle of family and friends. Returning to the UK, and Suffolk, after twenty years living and working abroad, I started practising drawing and painting more seriously than before, attending workshops and courses by Annie Rice, Ed Cooper, Annabel Mednick and Helen Gilbart. I’ve done liberating workshops at Emily Ball’s Seawhite Studios and will be attending another in France led by the still life and marine painter, Lowestoft born John Button. In 2010 I illustrated Inside Conducting by Christopher Seaman, conductor emeritus of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra in the US, thereby fulfilling a lifelong ambition to illustrate a book. In 2016 I exhibited for the first time with the Society of Graphic Fine Art in London and was awarded a prize for one of my submissions. Although I work full-time for a Suffolk book publisher, I make time in the evenings and weekends for painting and drawing. At the moment I don’t have to live from my art which gives me the freedom to explore that I mentioned earlier. Although I’d love to see my work hanging in the Redfern Gallery in London or Thompson’s in Aldeburgh, at least I don’t have anyone complaining if I suddenly go off at a tangent and start drawing dogs with household objects for noses… e: michael.richards@web.de t: 07801 535 020 www: https://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/mrichards or https://certainline.wordpress.com

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01394 446510
Suffolk County Council, Woodbridge Library, New Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1DT