Richard Vickerson
Richard Vickerson is a native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. After receiving a science degree from the University of Prince Edward Island, he attended Dalhousie University, graduating from the School of Dentistry in 1978. He practiced with the Province's Children's Dental Care program until 2001, when he retired.
Although very much a self-taught artist, Richard has attended workshops with Don Pentz, Alice Reed, and Barry Jeeves. He has participated in one-person and group exhibitions throughout Prince Edward Island at the Holland College Centre of Creative Arts, The Confederation Centre of the Arts, The Island Art Gallery, The Eptek Centre, and Details Fine Art Gallery. He has also exhibited at the Dowling Walsh Gallery, Rockland, Maine, and the Robertson Gallery in Ottawa.
In 2008 Richard became an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour. His work has been represented in the American Artists to Embassies Program, The Canadiana Collection, as well as many private and corporate collections.
The rural landscape of the Atlantic Provinces and Maine, along with the rich heritage and natural beauty found there, has been his primary source for subject matter. Of particular interest are the many buildings that are an integral part of the region's history. Many of the landmarks painted by this artist have been lost or are threatened.
The ever-present ocean has also been an important element in Richard's work. The relationship between land and sea, between human endeavour and relentless natural forces, are subjects often dealt with in his art.
While an admirer of a wide range of representational art, the work of artists from Atlantic Canada and the New England States have held the strongest interest for Richard. American realists such as Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, Thomas Eakins, and Winslow Homer as well as Canadian artists Alex Colville, Tom Forrestall, David Blackwood, and Christopher Pratt have all been influential.
The traditional approach taken by these and many other artists is closer to Richard's own approach and seems to him the most empathetic way to depict a landscape, which, while at times beautiful, can also be unforgiving.
