Meet Artist Rick Short
Welcome to my art gallery, Scenic Earth Studios. My creative journey began when I was around 9 years old learning to create with pencils, magic markers, water colors then gradually moving to oil and enamel paint where I painted on every kind of 2-Dimensional surface I could find from paper, canvas, wood to metal. I had an earnest desire to learn how to paint and quickly learned to use oil paints on canvas and Tester's enamel model paint to create paintings on paper and canvas, then learned to use pastels, spray paint and began to create paintings of the ocean, surfing and marine art, sunsets and western art that I still love creating today.
Growing up, my family never encouraged me to work on my art. If anything they did their best to keep me from it. So, I decided to take the math and science route that is often pushed in schools today and embarked on a career in Information Technology working for big companies such as Walt Disney World, Kemper National Insurance and Deloitte Consulting. However, It did not take me long to discover that having a background in art gave me an advantage as a UX Designer, Web Designer and eventual Subject Matter Expert in the field of Web Accessibility.
My friends and my wife were always the ones that encouraged me to continue painting. When I started winning first and second prize awards at local art shows, my parents took notice and suddenly, they were not opposed to my creative hobbies, especially when they bring in $1000.00 for a second place prize. My wife was always my biggest fan and cheerleader and she always accompanied me at my art shows, one man exhibits and group shows. When my wife passed away from cancer, I lost my best friend but found myself dreaming of Heaven and the life she is living there so as a way of still being with her, I began painting images of Heaven and of her in Heaven. When these paintings showed up at her mother's nursing home, the nurses and staff were definitely moved by what they saw.
A few years after my wife passed away, I found myself dreaming of painting again and that internal drive enabled me to pick up my brush again and also create wood working, furniture, digital art and 3D Art work. Besides wanting to create images of Heaven, I longed to create images of my birds that lived in my house as well as the Wildlife birds that lived in my back yard, Southwest Art and children's art even more. I live in a home surrounded by Wildlife including Turkeys that come up to the house to eat bird seed, dozens of beautiful birds, Bears, Foxes, Peacocks, Owls and other wildlife. So being able to photograph and paint these neighboring animals just fueled my passion to create and share these images the world as well as keep close to my heart.
Artistic Style
My painting style can be described as a combination of realism, surrealism and Southwest Art. Some people have even described my work as folk art in style and format. I tend to focus on western / Southwest Art, Wildlife Art, Children's art, Seascapes and Bibllical Art as some of my favorite themes. Some of these themes cross over in quite a few of my paintings. As for mediums, I paint using Acrylics, Oils, Enamel, Ink as well as Digital Photography, 2D and 3D Software and wood working.
Artistic Influences
I never attended art school formally so I taught myself to paint over time but growing up over the years, some of my favorite artists that influenced me were Roger Dean, Norman Rockwell, Bob Ross and Hugh Syme. When I attended college, I double majored in Marketing and Information Systems and attended graduate school studying Instructional Design and eLearning. These are skills that I use every day in my work and in my online art gallery and lab here at Scenic Earth Studios. I hope you enjoy what you see and will come back and visit often.
Art Shows and Awards
Here is a listing of some of my Gallery exhibits, one man shows and awards I have won in various exhibits over the years growing up in Virginia and Florida.