Artist Bio

Rick Fry has always found painting outdoors to be exhilarating. “Nature is the best teacher, and if you make a commitment to be out there day after day, you will learn to see,” he says.

“When I want to paint, I head out the door to find a scene that will spark my interest. This may take hours, or it may take minutes. What tends to catch my eye is the light–the pattern and contrast created on a subject, or the warm glow of a late afternoon bathing a particular area.

“I pay close attention to shapes and value, start with a simple line, and build shapes with the colors in front of me. I want to show the gentle sides of nature and man in a harmonious existence.”

Rick is an accomplished illustrator and painter who found his artistic niche with an eclectic collection of techniques and subject matter that provides a refreshing view of America’s remaining untamed areas. His goal for each painting is to capture the essence of his subject. He paints almost exclusively with oils on canvas or panels because he feels that the broad range of techniques offered by the medium gives him the best opportunity to achieve this goal.

Born in Shawnee in 1949 and now based just a few miles down the road in Norman, Rick loves his home state’s prairies, trees, and rolling hills, especially the open hills of Southwest Oklahoma. He is an amateur ornithologist and has spent a good portion of his life painting wildlife and its habitats with a particular interest in birds.