Bob Richey graduated from Penn State University in 1971, earning a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering. During a 25 year engineering career designing and analyzing aircraft structures with the United States Navy, Bob always maintained his childhood passion for creating works of art. Bob is mainly self taught although he did study with several local professional artists during his early period with the goal of perfecting his own artwork to a professional level. His dream of someday becoming a full time professional artist came true in 1996, when he was able to take advantage of an early retirement offer from his engineering position.
Bob's passion for creating art led him first to watercolor before he finally settled on soft pastels as his primary medium. Bob truly enjoys drawing and painting with soft pastels. He usually concentrates on relatively small format landscapes, completed in a single sitting. Bob likes to compare his drawings to a short story, communicating a simple theme, a subtle mood. Working in a modest scale allows him to explore many compositions and capture the essence of the moment on paper. More recently Bob has explored somewhat larger scale compositions. Bob's works put a strong emphasis on both composition and color.
Bob's work has won dozens of awards at both the regional and national level. Highlights of Bob's art career are listed below.
The artist's profile is maintained on the James Michener Museum's website under the category, "Bucks County Artists".
Bob was one of the 50 artists featured in the book, "Artists of the River Towns," by Doris Brandes. The artist has also been featured in many magazine and newspaper articles including Bucks County Town & Country Living magazine and Nouveau magazine.
Since 1996 over 2000 of the artist's original pastels have been purchased for private collections. Bob would like to let all of his patrons know how grateful and thankful he is for all of their enthusiastic support.
Bob and his wife Linda have two sons, Bobby and Andrew. When not doing weekend art shows, Bob and Linda enjoy training for and participating in local triathlons.
Selected National & International Juried Exhibitions 2007-2009
- Pastel National 2010 Exhibition, Wichita, Kansas.
- Renaissance in Pastel 2009, Connecticut Pastel Society's 16th Annual Exhibition.
- Raw & Refined Exhibition, The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, Reading Public Museum, Summer 2009.
- Degas Pastel Society Twelfth Biennial National Exhibition 2008,
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, Mississippi.
- Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod International Juried Exhibition, 2008.
- The Great Lakes Pastel Society, Small Paintings – National Competition 2008,
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
- Pastel National 2008, Wichita Arts Center, Wichita, KS.
- Shades of Pastel National Juried Exhibition 2007, Pastel Society of Maryland
- 16th National Pastel Painting Exhibition 2007, Pastel Society of New Mexico
Selected Fine Art Awards: 1994 through 2009
- Connecticut Pastel Society's 16th Annual Exhibition 2009 - Pastel Painters of Cape Cod Award
- Phillips’ Mill 79th Annual Art Exhibition, Constance M. Oliver Award, 2008.
- New Hope Arts Festival, Best of Show Award, 2007
- Mixed Media Gallery Annual Juried Exhibition 2007 – award for best pastel
- Artsbridge, Lambertville, NJ
(3 awards including James Michener Art Museum Purchase Award)
- Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia (2 awards)
- Phillips Mill Community Art Association, New Hope, PA (3 additional awards)
- Bianco Gallery Foundation, Buckingham, PA (3 awards)
- Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA (1 award)
- Philadelphia Sketch Club, Philadelphia (1 award)
- Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Annual, Philadelphia (5 awards)
- Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, State College, PA (2 awards)
- Community Art Center, Wallingford, PA (1 award)
- Chester County Art Association, West Chester, PA (1 award)
- Cape May County Art League, Cape May, NJ (10 awards)
- Peddlers Village Fine Art Festival, Lahaska, PA (3 awards)
- Chestnut Hill Fall for the Arts Festival, Philadelphia, PA (8 awards)
- Mountain Fine Art Show, Bernardsville, NJ (3 awards)
Publications and Recognition:
Book:
* Artists of the River Towns, Doris Brandes, 2002.
Magazine Feature Articles:
* Bucks County Town & Country Magazine,
Cathy Viksjo, Winter 1998.
* Nouveau Magazine, Marsha Nye, Sept 2006.
Museum Listing:
* Bucks County Artists, James Michener Art Museum,
Doylestown, PA - Web Site, Bucks County Artists’ Data Base
Juror:
* Doylestown Art League Juried Members Show, 2002
* William Tennent High School Students’ Fine Art Senior Project, 2006
Member:
* Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, State Juried Status, 2009.
* Degas Pastel Society, invited membership, 2009.
* Cape May County Art League
* Artsbridge, Lambertville, NJ
