June 2019: Works in Watercolor by Randy Eckard

June 2019: Works in Watercolor by Randy Eckard

(Portland, ME) You’re invited to meet artist Randy Eckard at Richard Boyd Art Gallery Saturday, June 1 between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at the opening of his solo exhibition of paintings in watercolor.

Raised in North Carolina, Randy studied at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida and the Haywood School of Craft in Clyde, North Carolina. A trained commercial and fine artist living in Blue Hill, Maine his career as a fine artist working exclusively with watercolors spans more than three decades.

Recently selected as one of Maine’s most collectible artists for 2019 in “Maine Home and Design Magazine’s artmaine 2019 Annual Guide” Randy is known for his use of light and shadow, with the subject of most of his paintings being light and how it defines and shapes the scene before him.

Winning over 190 awards for his paintings in watercolor throughout New England and the Southeast, his work is widely collected and included in numerous private and corporate collections. The exhibit is open free of charge between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. daily through June 29, 2019.

Randy Eckard ~ ‘Burnt Island Launch’ ~ Watercolor on Paper 21″ x 15″

When asked about his career as an artist Randy replied, “I am closing in on forty years of working with watercolors. For several years I was fascinated by the versatility and wonder of drawing with pencil, and pen and ink. An HB pencil, a kneaded eraser, and a sheet of bristol board, opened up a world or exploration in black and white. At the urging of a friend I tried adding watercolor to the early stages of my drawings, and I was soon painting more than drawing. My love of drawing never diminished, and continues with quite detailed drawings in preparation for painting.

Inspirations pour in from the beautiful and dramatic coastline of Downeast Maine, where I have lived for the past twenty-five years. The drawings, watercolors, and tempera paintings of Andrew Wyeth, have guided and fostered my sensibilities for most of my years as a painter. Reading about the techniques of drybrush and glazing, brought to the forefront by Wyeth, revealed a method of working with watercolor where my love of drawing could be paired with my new-found love of watercolor.

As a young boy, growing up in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, I began noticing and responding to the warm glow and cool, contrasting shadows of late afternoons. Those early observations of light would become the focus of my paintings. Light reveals the character, color, and texture of objects, whether man-made or natural, and the alternation of lighted and shadowed planes produce powerful repeated patterns and are an important element of design.

Early on I realized how quiet observation would most always reveal the life of a subject, and I learned to pay attention to sparks of inspiration, often arriving unexpectedly during my solitary wanderings along the backroads of coastal Maine.”

Eckard said, a recent meeting with a couple from Florida, who subsequently purchased one of my paintings, summed up the essence of my work in one short sentence. “It looks wonderful, so blissfully relaxing and inviting, with a hint of mystery.”

For more information about the exhibit or reception contact the gallery by phone at (207)-712-1097, via email info@richardboydartgallery.com or visit the gallery’s website at www.richardboydartgallery.com .

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RichardBoydArtGallery and follow us on Instagram #richardboydartgallery . Below are images of some of the paintings included in the exhibit. See you at the gallery!