This week’s featured artist: Richard Niewerth, member since the ’70s; joined the Board of Directors, January, 2015:
ME: I was born and raised in Baltimore. I earned a BFA in Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art, (MICA) and MA at University of Maryland. While painting has always been my passion, teaching art has run a close second. I hold an emeritus status at Anne Arundel Community College after a 40 year teaching career. My works have been extensively shown in many solo and group regional exhibits, nationally and internationally. A number of public and private collections include my pieces.
MY ART: My medium of choice is oil on canvas, paper, and panels. My figurative paintings focus on the rituals of daily life, things that people do every day that typically go unnoticed and unrecorded. I’m interest in the realm of non-verbal communications commonly known as body language. In particular, what I refer to as “the dance of self-awareness” as individuals struggle to deal with their awareness of self while interacting with others in the common space they are forced to share. The visual dynamics that unify and connect is as much a part of my work as is the dance itself as they struggle to censor and guard outward projections. Nearly all my paintings start with direct observation in the form of sketches and photographs which I bring back into the studio and develop into larger paintings.
Lady with Big Purse, Oil
I seek to convey a strong sense of space and place presenting the viewer with a rich interplay of elements across the surface of my canvasses. Attention to balance of color and form encourages our eyes to follow my compositions both into and beyond the pictorial field. My website is www.richardniewerth.com.
MFA & ME: I became involved with the MFA in the early 1970’s when I first moved to Anne Arundel County. I view the organization today as I did then, as providing a vital community in which regional artists can exhibit and thrive.
Spread the word about…YOU: Every week, we feature an MFA member for “Me & My Art Monday.” If you would like to be featured, please submit a photo and three paragraphs: one each about YOU, YOUR ART, and MFA & YOU totaling approximately 350 words, to meandmyart@mdfedart.org.
