Taking his art to a higher level
By Ronda Nelson
There are times in life when things just come together; when events coincide to
bring about change that is marked by the fingerprints of God. Artist Ron Adams
is experiencing just such a time, as a number of things come together to take
his art to a higher level, both in quality and distribution.
Over the past couple of years, his style has changed from that of “rustic realistic impressionism” to work that is more intricately detailed and filled with “an unlimited color palette,” he says.
Most artists, he said, will work within a certain, fairly limited, color palette. He prefers to work with “an unlimited palette” to achieve his finished work.
Even so, he says that the longer you paint, the more sensitive you are to color. Some days he feels like he is so sensitive to color he can barely paint. The more you learn about it, he says, the more concerned you are about it.
Monotony in a painting is something Adams cannot tolerate. Through the years, as he has practiced many different styles, he has developed tools, using “everything in your imagination” to make a mark. He says that brushes simply cannot produce the variety of detail he seeks to put into his paintings. “It took me years and years and years of experimenting,” he said, “making all kinds of different equipment.”
Some tools are used for awhile, discarded and later returned to. The tools are important to the development of his work. “If you don’t put in your painting, what you see in nature, you end up with a tedious piece,” he said.
Adams also teaches painting classes, where he says he covers basics. With a lifetime of learning and experience, it would simply be impossible to teach all he knows. He believes his students leave his classes satisfied and well prepared to pursue their own painting.
In his early years as an artist, Adams sold paintings throughout his native Florida and southern Georgia. When he moved to Orofino several years ago, he began displaying art at Valley Graphics and sold a lot of paintings locally. “I saturated the market,” he says.
His newly developed style, with its intricate detail, has required him to raise the prices on his paintings, something he was long resistant to. Now Adams is in negotiations with a sales agent to sell directly and to place his work in a number of west coast galleries and other venues.
Adams is seeing a lifetime of work rewarded in a gratifying way, with new paintings, new prices and new markets coming together in a way that can only be described as providential.
Valley Graphics and Art Gallery owner Bill Bossé, invites the public to the official unveiling of Adam’s new work, on March 7-8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
Pictured: Bill Bossé, owner of Valley Graphics Printing and Art Gallery, admires a new painting by Ron Adams as Adams looks on.