Portrait of Schimpf Rick
< Back to Directory

Schimpf Rick

About the Artist

~~Hello, allow me to tell you a little about myself. I’m retired from a career in Information Technology. I’ve had interest in art since a child. I even took a correspondence course when I was a kid - that’s an online course before the days of the Internet. Lessons, directions, and grades were exchanged via “snail mail”- Communications were slow - sometimes weeks between sending off a lesson and getting any type of response returned. I lost interest before completing the course. As an adult, I dabbled with painting from time to time but only in my retirement have I sustained my focus and efforts to develop my skills. I describe myself as a self-taught, hobbyist painter. I’ve been fotunate to have several paintings exhibited and even sold a few. You may detect some influence in my work by painters such as Thomas Moran or more recent artists like Christopher Clark. I have a large collection of photos of Monet paintings and drawings for reference. However, I don’t strive to replicate any of their works and styles or limit myself to another’s criteria that may result in restricting development of my personal creative expression. Rather, I’ve viewed the works of those more accomplished. Studied many techniques, and attempt to use what I’ve learned to produce a painting that uniquely affirms my artistic style while at the same time captures, emphasizes, and celebrates the interest and beauty of the scene. In the words of Thomas Schaller - “We’ve likely all heard ‘There are no bad subjects, only bad paintings.’ Maybe so, but I’m saying something a bit different. It is not that the subjects we see are intrinsically beautiful or not. Nothing can actually contain beauty. Rather, beauty is found within us and we confer it upon what we see. And so, it is less that some person, place, or thing may inspire us than it is a matter of how adept we are at tapping into the inspiration we already contain. We access it, design it, and then put it down on paper. In this sense, we are the architects of our inspiration.” My paintings are primarily landscape and seascape scenes with an occasional venture into other interests. I hope you can have as much enjoyment viewing my paintings as I have producing them. Rick Schimpf

Schimpf Rick website View Website Schimpf Rick website View Gallery Schimpf Rick website Purchase Art

Artist's Statement

Painters and perhaps artist in general are illusionist. An Illusionist uses a variety of props and conditions to convince you that you have observed an impossible event. Nevertheless you believe that you just witnessed it with your own eyes. An Artist uses a variety of colors, forms, and shapes, to explore, create, and construct an image on a blank canvas and turn it into a multi-dimensional vision of interest and beauty. The creation of a multi-dimensional vision on a flat surface is part of the reason I paint. The enjoyment and fulfilment that an illusionist must feel at the completion of a successful performance is much like what I feel when a painting is selected for an exhibit, honored with an award, or a painting is sold. That is why I paint. That is why I show my paintings and that is why I continue to strive for improvement and attempt to create scenes that bring enjoyment to those viewing my paintings.

Featured Work

Photos

This painting is my impression of the view one would have as you looked towards Church Circle from West Street. The church located in the circle is St. Anne’s Episcopal Church founded in 1704. The current church is the third to be built on this location. It was built in 1858. Fire destroyed the first two.
This painting is my impression of two deer grazing in a snowy area by a flowing stream. The painting is based on a picture found on the Internet. The original picture had one deer grazing next to a large tree next to a stream feeding into a river. I used the elements of that picture for my painting but I rerouted the stream and added a falls within the stream. My painting includes two deer. One deer with its head up as if on guard looking outward while its buddy grazed. It was fun painting this imaginary scene. I hope you enjoy viewing it. “Buddies” will be exhibited as part of The Arts Council of Anne Arundel County “Space and Place” exhibit. The exhibit will be located between concords “C” and “D” of the BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. The exhibit starts November 14, 2018 and ends Wednesday March 13, 2019.
I named this painting “Stretch Run” not just because it is my impression of the stretch run of a horse race. This painting took me away from my typical landscape and seascape scenes and challenged me to stretch beyond my comfort zone. I know little about the anatomical structure of horses and even less about horse racing. This painting was inspired by a photograph in The Baltimore Sun showing horses in the 2018 Preakness, galloping on a muddy track toward the finish line in the fog. My initial efforts led me away from the race as captured in the photograph to the idea of having horses appear to be galloping directly at you as they entered the stretch run coming out of the final turn. I’ve never been to a horse race but I can imagine the excitement experienced by the fans as the horses thunderously approach and pass viewing stands. The 2018 Preakness was ran in rainy, cloudy, and foggy conditions. I attempted to capture those conditions for this painting by giving the track suffice a wet, muddy appearance with mud splashing and flying from the hoofs of the horses.
Solitude is a state of being alone without being lonely and can lead to self-awareness. In works by Author, Journalist, and Editor, Hara Estroff Marano, she wrote “As the world spins faster and faster—or maybe it just seems that way when an email can travel around the world in fractions of a second—we mortals need a variety of ways to cope with the resulting pressures. We need to maintain some semblance of balance and some sense that we are steering the ship of our life. Otherwise we feel overloaded, overreact to minor annoyances and feel like we can never catch up. As far as I'm concerned, one of the best ways is by seeking, and enjoying, solitude. Solitude is a time that can be used for reflection, inner searching or growth or enjoyment of some kind. Deep reading requires solitude, so does experiencing the beauty of nature.” She also said “Solitude suggests peacefulness stemming from a state of inner richness. It is a means of enjoying the quiet and whatever it brings that is satisfying and from which we draw sustenance. It is something we cultivate. Solitude is refreshing; an opportunity to renew ourselves. In other words, it replenishes us”. It is with these thoughts that I named this painting “Solitude”. It is my hope the viewing of this painting of a camper warmed by a blazing campfire while observing a sunset from a snow covered mountain clearing can provide you a momentary escape from the fast paced, high pressured world and a means to renew and recharge yourself.
This painting was inspired by the snow storms that covered the Baltimore region in 2015. Local storm coverage showed pictures of snow covered paths and roads. Some coverage showed coverage at night. I was impressed with the way the glow of the street lights influenced the colors of the snow. I used those images to develop my impression of a snow covered park pathway lit by a street light that gave a glistening warmth to the snow covered treed path. “Evening Tranquility” was presented the “People’s Choice Award” by the Benfield Gallery for the exhibit honoring Artist Lee Boynton.
This painting is my impression of the sun rising over Maryland’s Eastern Shore as it would be seen from the Bay Bridge. I painted the scene to give the perception of the bridges going directly into the sun.