The Opera House celebrates the lively art scene in Boothbay Harbor this fall with an autumn show by artist Rick Dickinson. Beginning Thursday, Sept. 13, the second floor gallery will include genres of still life, portrait, figure and landscape.  An opening reception will take place in the gallery on Tuesday, Sept. 25 from 5-7 p.m. and include remarks by the artist.

Rick says that that the show will include “two styles dating back to the start of the 20th century, a typical impressionistic style coming out of Cape Cod and taught by Lois Griffel and Henry Hensche and a more thoroughly rendered form of impressionism coming out of Boston as taught by Paul Ingbretson and Ives Gammel.”

He shared that “the ‘experts’ urge me to focus on a single style and genre, however I'll continue to resist any genre focus and paint whatever interests me on any given day.  And I struggle to find my own voice.  A voice that incorporates the two styles of art that I've enjoyed and can be recognized as something quite different, an audacious thought that may be well beyond my pay grade.”

He has had extensive study with Paul Ingbretson at the Ingbretson Studio of Drawing and Painting, an atelier now in Lawrence, MA, in addition to limited study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA and the Maine College of Art, Portland, ME and individual study with Lois Griffel, Ty Hodanish, Ann Templeton, Don Stone, Don Demers, and Lee Boynton among others.

Rick has a goal, to refine his craft to be the best painter he can possible be when he “eventually tips over.” Many who see Rick’s work agree he has demonstrated he is a Boston School Painter. He humbly claims that “he has not arrived yet,” but says he will continue refining his skill as long as he can wield a brush, that the quest for perfection in capturing beauty is a lifelong journey. As visitors observe his work they will see the evolution of his skills as he works to become a Boston School painter.

It is said that the appeal of the craftsmanship of a Boston School painter is not solely dependent on interest in subjective significance. Its charm lies, primarily, in beauty of interpretation, the observation and image captured by the painter. The compositions are thoughtful and well-balanced, the values perfectly related, textures exquisitely rendered, and the subject matter centered on beauty. Sunlight and atmosphere pervade the image which the artist paints but the effect is not forced. In dealing with subtleties the painter does not resort to tricks or abstractions, so his pictures are understood and appreciated almost as well by the general public as by his colleagues and critics.

A Boston School Masterpiece never needs explanation, it simply extrudes beauty that lights up a room while communicating poetry through the use of rich colors and finely contemplated brushwork while capturing the light effect. It needs to be about the light effect with full color, finely rendered without compromise.

In words he’s borrowed from Frank Benson, Rick says “The only fun in life is trying hard to do something you can’t quite accomplish.”

He and his wife, Pandora, maintain an oceanfront home on Southport, Maine and studios on Southport and in Lawrence, MA.