Rich Nelson Exploring Local Landscapes

I had a chance to wander into the old Conn Gallery space in Landrum while Rich Nelson was hanging his paintings for his show of "Recent Paintings." I was immediately struck by the dreamy and peaceful quality of the paintings. I felt like I could step through the frame and leave the sterile gallery behind to relax and wander through the swamp land under a hazy sky or explore the old house across an overgrown field.

After taking time to slow down from my busy day and enjoy what he had produced, I started by asking him about how he came to create this new collection of work.

"Mostly I paint commissioned portraits, so when I get a break or am traveling or on vacation this is what I do to relax. I go exploring and find an interesting spot outside to stand and paint. Most of the still life work comes from teaching classes at Tryon Painters & Sculptors on and off for the past three years. I enjoy taking time away from the "work" of painting portraits to paint for myself, usually in the summer and fall."

"The business of commission work means a lot of traveling to places all over the country. I've now done somewhere over 200 portraits and they are each about a specific subject. We moved to the Southeast because this is where so much of the work is for portraits. Up north the work is mostly corporate for CEOs and such. In the South people still believe in painting family members, and often have a specific age when the children of the family are painted."

How does this work differ from painting portraits?

"These are paintings for me, not based on what will sell, but what I see that inspires me that day. Nobody tells me to paint them. I do them out of my own initiative. Unlike the portrait work which is often done from photos I take, these paintings involve taking the time to directly observe something that attracts my eye. They are all from what I see around me in the real world. I never wanted to work from photos, and didn't during school. However, these days, no one from kids to CEOs has the time to sit for a portrait. The beauty of landscape and still life is that they are all painted from life."

Which do you like the best?


"My favorites are probably the ones up in the windows. Mostly it's fun to put them all up and listen to what people say. The tomato field painting is on the postcard and has already generated some interest. I surely like it for a different reason than people who look at it. The first two trips we took this year, to Hilton Head and Lake Jocassee , I didn't like what I was painting. On our second trip to Hilton Head I liked a couple, but was starting to panic about the show. Then we returned to Tryon and I wandered over to the tomato field one day. People stopped to say hello and some of them may like it because they saw me painting it, or that they see it so often. For me, it was the fact that the whole process of painting it went smoother for me than any other I had done this year."

"You're always trying to create and sometimes it's not flowing. This year it wasn't until the tomato field and Pearson's Falls that I felt like things were really working again. I was also lucky enough to be introduced to Mr. McClure who has the old Henson farm. I don't like to traipse around someone else's property unless I know them. Mr. McClure's place is an unbelievable adventure to me; wandering through this slice of Tryon history to find something new to paint. I enjoy that so much, which is something that the viewer of the painting doesn't see. I also like capturing what is 'real' about this area. Mr. McClure said 'As long as I'm around it isn't going to change.' There is a beauty about that place that you find less and less these days."

Are these all paintings from this summer?

"This show is about 99% work I've done over the past two years and all but the back room of the gallery contains work I've never shown here. Most of them are from the last six months, though a few were swapped out from a gallery in Hilton Head. I figure about every nine months I'm due for a show. We've lived in Tryon three years now and I've shown at Upstairs, Tryon Fine Arts Center, Red Clover, and now here. My wife Kim was the director of the Red Clover and there was some confusion about our involvement there. We left after about nine months. Kim needed to get back to being a full-time Mom, and I needed to focus on painting. The same is true of Richard Conn who gave up running the gallery so he could focus on his own painting and sculpture. Robbie Conn is still framing in the space and has done most of the framing of my work both in the show as well as the portrait commissions. He is an excellent 'old fashioned' kind of framer. I am old fashioned myself, still painting oil on linen that I stretch and prime myself."

I'm clueless about "stretching linen." What do you mean by that?

"I use rabbit skin glue and lead white on Belgian linen. For the first 400 years of painting on canvas that was what everybody did. I do it for two reasons. First, I really like it. I've tried other kinds of canvas and always came back to this. Second, I've checked with conservators and when I see how wonderful old paintings look in museums today, I want mine to be preserved like that. I take it pretty seriously."

"I've meet a lot of other portrait artists at shows and conventions and maybe one or two do what I do. Most painters use commercially prepared canvas with acrylic gesso. As a professor of mine once said, 'Acrylics have only been around fifty years, you don't know how they will hold up.' Also, because I stretch my own, I don't have to fit a painting to a standard size. Whatever size I make the painting I know Robbie Conn will be able to build a frame for it."

Anything else you'd like to share about your work?

"Some say every painting is a self portrait, even landscapes. I've just fallen in love with Tryon and have enjoyed trying to capture it before it changes. I hope it doesn't change, but who knows how long that tomato field will be there. I want to capture as much of the real beauty that drew us to this place as I can."

Rich Nelson's show "Recent Paintings," a collection of landscape, still life and portrait work will hold an opening reception on October 20th from 6-9pm. The show will be at 108 E Rutherford Street, the old Conn Gallery space, from October 16th-27th with a "mini" reception on October 19th. Hours will be Tuesday through Saturday from 10am-5pm, and special appointments are available anytime by calling 828-817-3783. For more information, go to www.richnelson.com or email rich@richnelson.com.