We are thrilled to host Kansas-based artist Johne Richardson for a solo show featuring all new work! Johne’s artwork translates the grandeur of the West into dynamic compositions that leap from the canvas. Yet, he is equally attentive to the fleeting moment—fading light upon a cloud, the soft wrinkle of a brow, a tired horse shifting their weight. Through a strong, intuitive quality of light, a distinct palette of bold colors, and masterful use of textured brushwork, he conveys character and nuance in his paintings.

Rhythms & Ridgelines will be hung in the Tucson gallery through the month of March. Join us for a public opening reception on Thursday, March 2nd from 4-7pm!

Artist Statement:

My favorite color to use when painting a landscape is one I call “distant blue.” It doesn’t come in a singular paint tube; its hue is as elusive and ever-changing as the clouds, hills, canyons, and mountain ranges that I try to capture on canvas. Distant blue dominates the paintings in “Rhythms & Ridgelines” and the vast distances found in the American West. Ridgelines create a rhythm to the landscape and draw us back into space and distance. They let us know where we are in a particular place. Ridgelines can be tall and jagged, low and subtle, or carved from the earth. They can float in the sky overhead, creating layers that move and shift over time, sliding back and forth like pieces of a set on a stage – the grand, marvelous stage of the outdoors. Figures move in and out of my paintings, often traveling across the scene on horseback, whether in the distance as a silhouette or brought up so close on the canvas that the landscape becomes a brief suggestion. In each composition the same rhythm of marks is always visible, as important to the painting as the figure. I try to capture on canvas that which moves me when I see it. I hope visitors to the gallery enjoy my paintings and understand the joy I had in making them.