Merry Christmas!

This is Richard's newest piece. The original is for sale at the City Creek Deseret Book Gallery in Salt Lake City. I love this depiction of the Nativity, especially the tenderness with which Joseph is leaning over and comforting the baby. As a mother, Mary's adoration of the Christ child and the way she is holding his hand bring to mind how it felt gazing at my own children. The piece really captures one of those lovely little moments in family life. 

The piece below was finished last month, but I didn't get it posted here on the blog. It's such a fun, elegant little addition to the Shakespeare paintings:

Another New Piece

For those of you who haven't been to the Utah Shakespeare Festival's fall season, here's the new piece I unveiled opening weekend:

Be Stone No More: A Winter's Tale
by Richard Lance Russell
30" x 20"
Oil on Linen

Fun Painting Fact of the Day: Our models for Queen Hermione and King Leontes were actually husband and wife, and the model who posed for Perdita was really their daughter!

A new Oil painting as Promised . . .

Darling Buds of May
by Richard Lance Russell
Oil on Linen
24" x 18"

Well, here's the newest piece. This was one of those happy accidents that happen sometimes when shooting reference material. I was setting up a shot and glanced up to catch these two great models just naturally walking and talking. It was such a great image that I just had to paint it. The shape the period dresses made blowing in the wind was really to fun to pass up.

My apologies for taking a while to get it posted. We've got a project brewing around here . . . I'll keep you posted on that, too!

Another Gallery!

Richard's work is in another gallery! In addition to being represented by Joe Wade Fine Art in Santa Fe, NM, the Blue Mountain Artisans Gallery has invited him to show his work there.

It's particularly fun because this is a local gallery, here in our hometown, and this gives locals a chance to see (and buy! :) his paintings as well.

Having work in a gallery is always a partnership. Richard works to create great pieces that their clientele will appreciate and want to take home, and the gallery works to promote his work and make people aware of what is unique and fantastic about his paintings. Everybody wins. We hope the new partnership with this gallery will be a great success for everyone!

Video Slideshow of the Shakespeare Paintings

Check out this fun video of my Shakespeare paintings:

Thanks, Seeing Shakespeare! It's awesome to see them like this!

5 Reasons to Visit Our New Online Store!

"Your blog is looking particularly spiffy," you might say to us.

"It's the new 'Buy' button on the left," we'd reply.

Because it's official: you can now buy Giclee prints on canvas of Richard's work online! We have a store! We've tried to make the original size available whenever possible, and we often have smaller sizes, too. If you'd like to check it out, go to: richardrussellart.com/store

And now for those 5 reasons to visit the store, as promised:

1) Because you need a great gift for a fine art collector, a literature lover, or a Shakespeare fan you know.

2) Because you'd like to see what's new. We'll be offering more sizes and reproductions of more paintings often.

3) Because you'd like to check out Richard's work but you aren't able to make it to his galleries or his solo exhibition at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

4) Because you'd like to own some of Richard's work, but aren't currently in the market for an original.

5) Because you just can't help but click on that stunning yellow button!

(And a big THANKS to Russell Web Design for helping us make the store spectacular!)

Where can YOU read Richard's Interview with 15 Bytes Magazine? Find out here!

Read the article here: Problem Solving: Richard Russell's Costumed Art, by Shawn Rossiter and then find out about the show opening by reading my post below.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival draws around 150,000 visitors each year. We met some of them on June 28th and 29th at the opening of Richard's exhibit. On Thursday evening we were treated to a show opening where we met  patrons, producers, and performers. Richard was asked to say a few words about the exhibit. I especially enjoyed his comparison between creating a painting and putting on a production. He mentioned how a painter has to cast, costume, and light a role, as well as design backgrounds and tell the story. His remarks really showed the connection between the exhibition and the Festival.

Artist Richard Lance Russell just before the opening of "Truth, Mirth, and Turmoil,"
his 2012 solo exhibition at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

The opening of the show coincided with the opening night for The Merry Wives of Windsor, and we got to see it that night. It was sensational! As is often the case with Shakespeare, you've got to see this play to fully appreciate it. And when Shakespeare's wordplay is combined with the comic hilarity of such actors as: John G. Preston and Matt Holzfeind, Melinda Pfundstein, and others, the text takes on a new level of enjoyment. They were completely true to the text, of course, and there was just enough updating to catch a modern audience. My favorite part? John G. Preston's "I got my eyes on you" gesture at the end of Act 3, scene 3. Watch for it. Ha!

The next day, Richard had a signing at the Randall Jones Gifts and Gallery. As an artist, he works on his own a lot. Just him and the canvases in the studio. It was so rewarding for him to actually get to see people responding to the work, to talk to them about which paintings they liked and why, and to share his vision with the Festival patrons. We made a lot of friends and enjoyed the signing immensely.

Artist Richard Lance Russell
signing prints at the Utah Shakespeare Festival

At the signing, Richard was approached by an artist and journalist we have long admired: Shawn Rossiter. He is the editor of Utah's Art Magazine: 15 Bytes and besides being a very nice guy is a great writer. I'm especially fond of his work now, because while we were at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, he scheduled an interview with Richard and subsequently wrote a fantastic article about him in the magazine! Check it out: Problem Solving: Richard Russell's Costumed Art, by Shawn Rossiter Here's the interview photo Shawn Rossiter took (you can also find it in the 15 Bytes article):

Painter Richard Lance Russell
at the Utah Shakespeare Festival

The exhibit runs through October, so if you haven't had a chance to see it yet, start planning your trip to Cedar City to catch some great plays and some great paintings!