Rick Stevens

Rick Stevens is a New Mexico-based landscape artist whose vibrant works juxtapose shapes, patterns, colors and textures in unexpected ways.  He spent his childhood in Sparta, Michigan where his first artistic inspiration was his father, a plein air painter.  It was there that he developed his own affinity for forests, rivers, and wildlife. Stevens painted alongside his father and graduated with a fine arts degree from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. A visit in 2008 to New Mexico and its varied terrain captivated Stevens, motivating him to move west to the “Land of Enchantment,” establishing a studio in Santa Fe. 

“The forest has been one of my primary subjects,” shares Stevens. “Coming from Michigan I landed in a totally different landscape here in Santa Fe, but we have forests up in the mountains, particularly Aspen forests, so that’s been a subject matter that I love to play off on the patterns. Aspens are just beautiful, and when you have a whole grove of them like we’re lucky to have here in the mountains, it’s pretty amazing.”

The artist’s career has evolved in much the same way his paintings do. Stevens takes his inspiration from the natural world, approaching his paintings with spontaneity and transmitting the feelings evoked by the landscape with immediacy and improvisation, an approach he compares to the jazz music often playing in his studio. He looks for ways to vary the elements, gestures, patterns or rhythms in his marks and textures. “Often it comes together in a mysterious way, through ‘accident’ or intuitive guidance,” says the artist. “It’s a process of projecting intention, then letting go of fixed ideas of how it will come together.”

Stevens' work speaks more broadly than a single category. The artist considers himself an extension of the Hudson River School and Luminists, associated with the 19^th century transcendentalists and writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. He shares their deep appreciation for nature and values intuition over logic. 

“I strive to be comfortable holding opposites and giving them space to live and thrive in an image,” Stevens said in a 2020 interview with Southwest Art Magazine. “While I want to express movement, I strive for a strong balance in the composition to give it stability as well. Stillness is the central axis of all movement. That may sound like a paradox to some, but it is embodied by a dancer or practitioner of the martial arts.” 

Rick Stevens has been featured in numerous publications throughout his career, as well as garnered many awards.  His works have been widely exhibited and are in many private and public collections including:  theBrauer Museum of Art in Valparaiso, IN, Muskegon Museum of Art, MI, Governors Mansion on Mackinac Island, MI; Michigan National Bank, MI, and more. Residencies include Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia New Harmony, IN; Acadia National Park, ME; Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, IN; Sleeping Bear Dunes, MI; Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, WI; and Isle Royale National Park, MI.