Richard Hedgecocks Framing Studio

About

My name is Richard. I live on a small farm with my wife Penny, sixty dogs, thirteen cats, and five horses. That equates to ten tons of dog food, five hundred pounds of cat food, and five hundred bales of hay per years. My wife rescues animals, you see. I would never have chosen this way of life for myself, but I appreciate the love and devotion my wife shows to these creatures. And even more, I appreciate the serendipity they have brought to my life, in that seventy-six animals provides countless opportunities for artistic appreciation.

One thing I've learned over the years is that, for the sake of honesty in my art, I should paint from what I have lived. Animals are what I know, and so they have become the focal point in most of my paintings. There are plenty of wildlife artists out there; but my experience with animals has been of those tamed by humans, and once tamed, dependent on them. I call it "Mildlife." There is a beauty that radiates from a painting when it strikes an element of truth, and that beauty is what I am after.

I believe I am a storyteller at heart, and the story behind the painting is more important to me than any technical quality like texture, temperature, or balance. To me, those things are simply the vocabulary from which I build my narratives.

Images

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