Artist Bio
Rich Nelson was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and earned a BFA at the College of Creative Studies. It was at CCS that he developed his love of painting, drawing, figurative art and art history. He is endlessly fascinated by people, places and things and considers it a privilege and challenge to capture some aspect of their essence on canvas.
Rich is a portrait and gallery artist who resides with his wife Kim and three young children in Tryon, North Carolina. Though portraiture is a major part of his career, Rich also loves painting landscapes, still life and figurative gallery pieces.
"I work toward 'painterly realism'; good drawing and composition, rendered with strong natural color, in such a way where you can still 'sense' or 'feel' the paint. The effect of this process is that the subject begins to artfully reveal itself to me and hopefully the viewer."
In the nearly 20 years as a professional artist, Rich has completed over 250 portraits, sold many gallery paintings, had a number of one-person shows, and has won a number of awards.
