Dina’s In Ellicottville Provides Gallery Space For Routes To Art Artist
Richard Thompson

Routes to art is a free weekend adventure; visit one artists studio, or as many as you choose.

In the world around me, I may see a flash of color, a particular form of a tree, the sudden movement of a bird, the march of a squadron of clouds, or the pale blue vapor trail of a passing jet, and each moment or event may become the reason for a big brush stroke, the arch of a curve, a shape, a color, a line or the plan for a whole composition. The world enters through my eye, travels back out through my hand, reformed by my brain and informed by my heart. My paintings create the place where all this digesting comes to rest….Richard Thompson

The invitation for Allegany County Artists to join Routes to Art 2009 inspired Contemporary Artist Richard Thompson to show at Dina’s Restaurant. His studio and home are in Alfred Station NY.

His work is inspired by the landscapes of the area, as well as those experienced during frequent visits to his native Oregon and travels to New Mexico where he maintains a second Studio. In his paintings and sculpture, he explores the ambiguity between near objects and far away spaces, between objects close at hand and distant houses and mountains, and the shifting colors and shades of dawn and dusk across the wide horizon.

Professor Thompson recently retired to concentrate wholly on his own art. He served Alfred University’s New York State College of Ceramics, School of Art and Design as Dean from 1997-2004, then took a sabbatical 2005 and then returned to NYSCC, School of Art as Full Professor of Painting from 2006-2009.