Painting by Rick Bennett

 Tipping Paint Gallery is featuring the work of artist Rick Bennett this April.

When you examine the paintings in “Playground of Illusion” viewers discover right off that something is different. Architectural details of a historic Raleigh home disintegrates into abstract color. Organic shapes seem to have no reference to the real world but began as a photograph of shirtless men laying steaming asphalt surrounded by large machinery. In the abstract watercolor paintings created for this show, Mr. Bennett invokes a sense of motion, the feel of the breeze or the drama of sunlight. Rather than document the scene he allows you to stand in the energy of the moment. A playful and contemporary application of paint is pared with an emotional attachment to Mr. Bennet's roots in Southern Culture.

 “In rural eastern North Carolina, my mother would gather us to the car and off we would go exploring some abandoned house, tramping through the woods or hunting for fossils along the river shore,” Mr. Bennett said. “My art is an extension of that need to examine and investigate the world we inhabit. I look for extraordinary elements in the ordinary things found in our everyday lives.”

 Mr. Bennett’s work is painted on Arches watercolor paper, mounted on acid free board and sealed with matte varnish.

  Ms. Linda Eddins, another artist whose work appears at Tipping Paint, said she “love(s) to play with different mediums. Pick a medium?...It’s like trying to pick a favorite child…IMPOSSIBLE!” For me, like children, each medium comes with it’s own challenges, it’s own beauty and infinite possibilities. Consequently, I have not settled on one.” 

Artist Linda Eddins with her work "Longevity"

Tipping Paint Gallery is located at 428 S. McDowell Street in downtown Raleigh. For more information go to www.tippingpaintartists.com or call 919-928-5279.