Rick Petersen got to pursue his lifelong love for art after retiring in 2001. He works with pastels and enjoys painting beaches and marshes in Northeast Florida. He seeks to communicate the joy of God’s creation through his artwork. You can see Rick Petersen’s art at Village Arts Framing & Gallery.
Tell us about your artwork. What inspires you?
My greatest inspirations come from the beauty of God’s creation in the water, sky and marshes of the First Coast and the birds and animals that populate it.
Tell us about your journey as an artist. What first sparked your interest?
From my youth, I have loved to draw and paint, but my career took a different path as a programmer and computer system analyst. I continued to paint in the evenings as time and occasion permitted while my children were growing up.
All that changed in 2001 when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had to retire. I finally had the time to paint, but I had a new set of issues that I had to learn to manage. It was then that I discovered pastels, and through the encouragement of Lyn Asselta and others in the First Coast Pastel Society, I found that I could carry the inspiration that I saw around me onto paper to inspire others.
Recently, since I have had more difficulty spending time out in nature, I have developed a passion to expand my painting subjects to people and pets.
Tell us about your art on display in the gallery.
My display is predominately scenes of the sky, beach, estuaries and the birds that populate our area.
What is your artistic process like?
Most of my paintings begin with drawings and sketches I have made on location and from photographs I have taken. Using these as the beginning, I work through thumbnails to decide on a pleasing composition. If I’m working on a portrait of a pet or person, I am more deliberate in my preparation. Ultimately, when I work with pastels, the colors, the texture of the pastel and the marks on the paper tend to lead and guide my work.
What do you like best about what you do?
My attraction is to the drama of light and shadow as it works through the clouds and the land to bring a sense of a moment in time.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I start my morning with a daily Bible study and prayer. I try to set goals for myself to spend some quality time drawing and painting, but that does not always happen. I try to keep a vegetable garden, but yard work has become a casualty of age and MS.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I have found that as I grow older, my spare time is spent on my main occupation of creating art.
What's next for you and your art?
I am working on making short, informative, videos of my painting process in both line and watercolor and in pastels. Stay tuned to this channel.
