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About the Artist and
the Work
In 1999, after a 20-year career in
graphic design, Rick Koppes moved from
Seattle to the Southwest to paint. He currently lives part-time
in Borrego Springs, California, and is focusing current work on the
plants of the Anza-Borrego Desert.
Rick's desert paintings are done
on site, from life in the plein-air manner, on camp/paint trips
that may last two weeks. He uses
R&F
Pigment Sticks exclusively. The pigment sticks are a
high quality combination of oil and wax that dries completely and the
finished painting needs no glass protection. The paintings are
done on 45"x45" Finnish birch panels that are clear finished
prior to painting.
Rick draws on the panels with the pigment sticks and then blends and
manipulates the colors, largely with his fingers. Some details
are then added with brushes and rubber tools. Working on the
clear finished wood imparts a luminosity to the subsequent glazes.
"The exotic flora of the Anza-Borrego Desert," says Rick,
"is an endless inspiration for a Northwest native."
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