Oil Paintings by Richard Ray

As a kid, I remember riding the giant ferris wheel with my brother Obie at the State Fair of Texas. When they stopped us at the very top, it made me feel as big as the world.

 

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Sometimes a painting grows out of a dream and then gets wrapped around reality as well. Yellow trees, a lady, a pot — porch steps and a flowery bush. A bright sun in a city sky and blackbirds on stalks of cane. This is a vision from a dream, but a moment and place I already knew.

The Dallas sun brings plenty of hot humid days. Finding big trees and a shady spot beside a cool lake can be heaven. This peaceful scene was found just across from Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake on a hot July day.

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I love painting flowers and plants and placing them in conjunction with interesting pottery.

The White Rock Bath House holds ghost voices from Dallas of the 40s and 50s. The swimming spot, diving deck and sandy beach where we all splashed around as kids has long been shut down. But if you listen close, you can still hear the laughing and splashing about as the wind whistles sailboats across White Rock Lake on warm summer days.

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In our backyard full of pecan trees, we have just one Crape Myrtle tree in a rare sunny spot. It is the only tree that gives color and through most of the summer. A few of its flowering branches placed into one of Marty's pots inspired this painting.

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Richard Ray - Dallas Landscape, 2004
Oil on canvas - 24 x 30 inches

 

There was a lady that used to fish here at the lake — I don't see her much anymore, but when the clouds blow in from the north with the first hint of Fall, I usually think of her.

 

"As long as I can reach into my paint box and pull out Wildflower red, Aeolian blue, and Sunrise yellow, I'll be happy. As soon as I finish one painting, I'm anxious to start the next, looking everywhere for inspiration."

Richard Ray was born in Dallas, Texas. From earliest memories, he loved to draw, and art was always a favorite subject in school. After spending three years in the Army in Germany, he enrolled at the Dallas Art Institute and later El Centro College in Dallas.

In 1976, he took a break from the academic art world. In his own studio, with brush and a colorful palette of oil paints, he explored a wide range of subjects. At this time, he also began to explore painting with the ceramic media in collaboration with his wife and artist, Marty. In 1992, he completed a Masters degree in Painting and Ceramics from Texas Woman's University.

Today, Richard's primary work involves painting subjects close at hand, such as scenes inspired by White Rock Lake near his home in Dallas. Portrait painting, flowers from nature and ideas from memory and imagination also inspire work at times. He continues to collaborate with Marty, carving drawings onto pottery, often illustrating art exhibits filled with paintings.

Richard and Marty Ray open their studio to the public each Fall in conjunction with the White Rock Lake Artist's Studio Tour.

 

Richard Ray
Education

1975 A.A.S., Eastfield College, Dallas, Texas
1976 B.A.A.S., Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas
1992 M. A., Texas Woman's University, Denton, Texas
 

Selected exhibits:

2004 White Rock Studio Tour Artists, Bath House Art Center, Dallas
2004 Texas Art, Farmer's & Merchant's Gallery, Pilot Point, Texas
2004 Paintings by Richard Ray, Art Annex, Coppell, Texas
2003 Texas Art, Farmer's & Merchant's Gallery, Pilot Point, Texas
2002  Tranquilla Show, Dallas Arts Revue Group Show, Dallas, Texas
2002  Paintings by Richard Ray, Art Annex, Coppell, Texas
1996  Critic's Choice, juried exhibition, Dallas Visual Art Center
1995  Dynamic Duos - Collaborative Works, Adkins-Hoover Gallery, Dallas
1993  Collector's Review Invitational, D-Art, Dallas, Texas
1993  National Cup Show, Artworks Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1992  Space Journeys & Painted Pots, Solo Exhibit, D-Art, Dallas
1991  The Clay Vessel, D-Art, Dallas, Tx
1990  Pottery Paintings by Marty & Richard Ray, Gabbert's Design Center, Ft.Worth, Texas
1990  Juror's Award, Texas Fest Fine Arts Exhibition, Ft. Worth, Texas
1990  Artful Objects, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
l989  Paintings by Richard Ray, Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas
1987  Eclectic Arteffects '87, Hasgow Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1986  The Madonna Project, Part III, San Antonio Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas
1983  Richard Ray, Solo Exhibition, North Lake Gallery, Irving, Texas

To contact Richard Ray:
Studio: 214 328-5934 or email: mray@dcccd.edu

 

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All works pictured on this page
Copyright 2000 & 2002 by Richard Ray

Digital photographs by JR Compton

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since May 31 2005

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