THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9608290231
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 32 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Mary Ellen Riddle
LENGTH: 62 lines
Early last Sunday morning found me in Greenleaf Gallery in Nags Head. Two years' worth of work by Nags Head artist Rick Tupper lay on the carpeted floor, winding around the inner gallery. Several large acrylic paintings were propped up in a row.
But it was the more compact watercolors that surprised me.
After years of creating time consuming acrylic works, Tupper said he needed a change.
``The important thing is I've discovered another way to approach my art work,'' he said. ``Sometimes you feel you're going to go nuts. I needed to find some relief from paintings. Paintings take me months. Within a day I can finish a watercolor.''
Using mostly fruit as his subject, Tupper took a straightforward approach to his newfound medium. Simple still lifes are rendered with light strokes and fresh, ``fruity'' colors. ``The very first brush stroke that I put down, I was just amazed at how clear the color was and how the paper just absorbed that,'' he said.
``Watercolor, when you get it right, it's kind of like prose - clear and very simple.''
The compositions are accentuated with brushstrokes outside the main forms. Some develop into recognizable things like a plate or a butter knife. Others play a more decorative role.
A lightheartedness marks watercolors of the family cat, Tupper's latest fish catches and fruits galore - including delectable Granny Smith apples.
But his acrylic painting ``Compassion'' really moved me. Tupper said it's his most personal work. ``It comes from 50 years of living,'' he said.
It's amazing how Tupper can take a commonplace motif, such as the heart, and bring to it new life. Effortlessly, like peeling away the skin of an apple and then dividing it into sections, his painting reveals the inner pulp, the juices and mysteries that form the fleshy chambers of the heart.
I left ``Compassion'' for a spell and drifted to the left to appreciate the banana color of a Magritte-like fruitscape. I hovered over a watercolor of George the cat, admiring the strokes of his fur. Then I drooled over Tupper's painting of peaches.
I couldn't quite give them my full attention, though, for the beating of Tupper's painted heart.
Across the room, in the inner recesses of ``Compassion'' are textured layers of raw life, emotional colors: radiant orange/red burning hot from behind a somber bluish mass.
Tupper's emotions run deep. Shapes overlap and gently recede. Lights appear behind darks. Despite the activity, he manages to create a oneness in his works.
Take your time browsing through his paintings of purple-stained berries and peaches and cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, mangoes and tomatoes that Tupper renders with the same tenderness evident in the more complex paintings. He revels in eating the fruit as well as painting it. Luscious and tender, the artist's latest creations beg to be tasted.
Tupper nourishes.
Rick Tupper's show opens Sept. 2 at Greenleaf Gallery, 6917 S. Croatan Highway, Nags Head. For more information, call the gallery, 480-3555. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY ELLEN RIDDLE
Artist Rick Tupper, who is painting watercolors, said after years of
creating time consuming acrylic works, he needed a change. by CNB