www.riki-arts.com hwmangoldfineart@riki-arts.com
Original Oil paintings by Artist Riki R. Nelson, Contemporary Realism - collection includes Jazz portraits of "Jazz on the Plazz" Los Gatos' outdoor summer concerts, nightclubs, & barscenes Scroll Entire Page to View Art - Please allow time for images to load.

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August 2006 - One Artist exhibition at, and by the invitation of, "Jazz on the Plazz" Los Gatos, PHOTOS coming soon

July 2006 - One Man Show and Reception at Peabody Fine art GAllery ART RECEPTION PHOTOS

February 2005 - One Man Show - PEABODY FINE ART GALLERY SHOW - ART RECEPTION PHOTOS

Painting Life - by Riki R. Nelson

Life moves, so should Art. I aspire to capture the moment which is never truly static.

Our most profound experiences & memories often last only seconds. So it is possible that the moment may be the most important subject in art of all.

I seldom paint static figures, ( "sitting and staring "), as it often does not covey the true character of the subject, or even more importantly the character of the moment.

"Action painting" has been defined and redefined, as art continuously reinvents itself. But it's Byzantine roots when elaborate, expressive, detailed, versions of victories in battle, meant to inspire and amaze, were created in bas-relief on drinking vessels and plaques are what I think of.

Modern Classical Realists sometime shy away from painting, "people in action" or in mid expression, possibly due to the complexity involved in getting all the elements to work together - perspective, proportion, anatomy, value, color, composition, and expression. Executing these individual elements successfully is one part skill, and one part talent. How they go together, however, is where the artistic "vision" becomes vital.

I have a unique creative, "vision" for each one of my oil paintings. Although it is almost impossible to describe the "visions" themselves, - the pure, creative, "head pictures" that come to me in dreams; walking on the beach; walking down the street - the ones that actually become paintings, also incorporate both old masters & modern art painting techniques. I strive to incorporate in my work, not only my "head pictures" but the painting expertise offered by both the classical & contemporary art worlds. I aspire to create true works of fine contemporary art, that are built on a studious foundation of the best of what has been, and what is, and yet are something entirely new, creative, and unique.

Painting Techniques.

The kind of multi-dimensional realism I strive for, involves a melding of numerous painting techniques. The foundation is an underlying detailed & accurate, yet intensely creative (and true to my original "vision"), black & white painting of the key figures in the piece, and a less detailed oil sketch of the other elements in the painting. I use stretched Belgium linen, Cotton Canvases, or Canvas Panels, that I carefully select, running my hand over each one, until I find a canvas that not only looks good, but "feels right" . I then "build" the figures in layers with the highest quality oil paints, combined with various versions of my own "secret recipes" for the mediums I combine them with.

The mediums I use, are my own archival mixtures. They are a mélange of some of what the old masters used - waxes, tree resins and nut oils - and modern more resilient polymer resins, that also lend themselves more to the vibrant modern color palette then some of the early more toxic lead based mediums, that I have chosen to largely leave out of my own mixtures.

Also in a modern vein, I will sometimes use a variety of surface textures and impasto weights in a single painting, and in the same modern sprit of artistic freedom to combine things in unique ways, I will create backgrounds, that will not only take as long to create as the main figures, but have been carefully painted in an entirely different style then the "front" of the painting,, in order to further the effects I strive to achieve.

Physics and Art

My brother is an astrophysicist, my mother has a background in poetry, theater, and art, and my father is a builder, so I grew up around ongoing discussions about what things were, why they were, what made things what they were, and how many dimensions, both tangible and not, did they exist in. This has profoundly effected my approach to painting.

Theories in modern physics, suggest the existence of multiple dimensions, that function independently, yet effect one another in ways that we can barely even phantom.
I am as fascinated by what can actually be "seen", as what we may be perceiving on other levels, that we are not aware of.

Artists - painters - are compelled to say, what words cannot convey.

I often say that if I had words for what I mean, I would not have to paint.

I hope that this brief explanation, furthers your enjoyment of my work.

Riki R. Nelson

Exhibitions and Gallery representation:

One man Show / Reception : by special invitation-

sole exhibiting artist at the "Jazz on the Plazz" concert series in Los Gatos August 23 and 30th 2006

One Man Gallery Show & Champagne Artist Reception

Reception Thursday July 27th 2006
6 to 8 PM

Exhibit Dates:
July 20th through August 2006

Peabody Fine Art Gallery of Los Gatos -
11 N. Santa Cruz Ave, Los Gatos
CA 95030
Phone - Ruth Daily, Gallery Director - 408-395-3440
email - ruth@peabodyfineart.com

One Man Gallery Show & Champagne Artist Reception

Feb 05 - “Beauty in the Night, Scenes of the City” : Peabody Fine Art Gallery of Los Gatos
oil paintings of local Jazz and street scenes
Month long exhibition and artist reception

Dec 04 - "Key Featured Artist" at the Toll House Los Gatos' celebration of the opening of the hotel's new restaurant, the "3 Degrees Restaurant"

One Man Show & Champagne Artist Reception

Oct 04 - Borders Café espresso Los Gatos
champagne reception and month long one man exhibit
of oil paintings

One Man Show & Champagne Artist Reception

July 03 - Borders Café espresso Los Gatos
“OceanScapes, Visions of the coast”
champagne reception and month long one man exhibit
of paintings and drawings

other events:

July 05 - Western New York - Artist Riki Nelson's "Sax in the Park" print was purchased to be featured in the "Sax in the Park" Charity Auction,

July 04 - One of the featured artists at Kuletos Los Gatos Hotel

Education: A lifetime of exsposure to fine art, punctuated by intense periods of study with private teachers and college courses. I did not have a life that would allow for a traditional art eduction, and am largely self taught. I continue to arduously study the painting and drawing techniques of the Old Masters, yet am strongly creatively influenced by the modernists - I also studied for a time under Linda Harris of Cupertino. My own vision and varied style and experimentation, leans strongly towards the modern, but I strive for the meticulousness and realism of the masters

Gallery Representation

Peabody Fine Art Galleries - Los Gatos 11 N. Santa Cruz Ave, 408-395-3440
ISLG Campbell 287 E. Campbell Ave 408-378-2075

Riki R. Nelson
www.riki-arts.com
mail@riki-arts.com
Los Gatos California USA

Jazz art realism, Figurative jazz oil paintings, and figurative jazz art. Oil il paintings of jazz musicians, original oil paintings of jazz night club scenes.