Tryon Fine Arts Center is proud to share their next exhibit in the Jeanne Parker Gallery featuring nationally-recognized artist Richard Christian Nelson with Places and Faces, an exhibit of portraits and landscapes from August 28 through October 24.
A free opening reception will be held on Friday, August 28 from 4:30-6:30 PM in the Jeanne Parker Gallery at Tryon Fine Arts Center, with Nelson in attendance for a walk and talk describing the work.
Nelson is a portrait and gallery artist and long-time resident of Tryon, NC. He earned his BFA from the College of Creative Studies in 1988. It was at CCS that he developed his love of painting, drawing, figurative art, and art history. Nelson has been working as a portrait and gallery artist, and occasional instructor since graduating.
As a signature member of the Portrait Society Of America and the Oil Painters Of America, he also loves painting landscape, still life, and figurative gallery pieces, usually from life. He is endlessly fascinated by people, places, and things and considers it a privilege and a challenge to capture some aspect of their essence on canvas.
“I strive to do museum quality work that will be around long after my subjects and I have left this world.”
Nelson works toward ‘painterly realism’; good drawing and composition, rendered with strong natural color, in such a way that you can still ‘sense’ or ‘feel’ the paint. The effect of this process is that the subject begins to artfully reveal itself to the artist, and hopefully, the viewer.
In over 20 years as a professional artist Nelson has completed over 500 oil portraits, 1000 charcoal portraits, sold many gallery paintings, had a number of one-person shows, and won a number of awards.
Faces and Places is Nelson’s first solo exhibition in Tryon in many years. Following the opening reception, regular gallery hours will be Tuesdays through Fridays from 12 PM to 4 PM and Saturdays from 10 AM to 12 PM.
Nelson will also join the October 3 Artists & Writers Coffee discussion group at Tryon Fine Arts Center for an in-depth discussion of the exhibit.
