Guest Speaker Rich Radigonda
Rich Radigonda was our guest speaker in our general meeting on July 17, 2007. The meeting was so much fun with 28 members in attendance. It was followed by drink and yummy home made cookies provided by Martin Biro and his wife.
Radigonda is an artist who has achieved what many beginning and emerging artists dream of: he has received many awards and honors through his art, and more importantly, he earns a living at it! He started drawing and painting as a boy, but when he decided he’d like to attend art school, he was sternly told by his father to “Get a job!” He did that, beginning in an auto repair company, and soon had his own shop, which he successfully operated until he retired in 1998. At that point he attacked his artistic goals in earnest, and the rest is history!! One very important highlight of his art career was winning the annual duck stamp competition in 2005, after having come in the top five in that contest for several years. Rich’s accomplishments are many and surprisingly varied. His web site is: www.radigonda.com
During the meeting, Radigonda shared with us his experience in duck decoy carving which has won him many awards. He brought with him duck paintings and two duck decoys. All of them were done with such accuracy. You could feel the realistic and natural motion of the ducks in his art. This was the result of uncountable hours of observing ducks in nature. “Know thy subject” he advised us.
In addition to sharing his painting reproduction process, he emphasized the importance of introducing the love of art to children. Radigonda stressed that the impact of a few hours of sharing art making can change a child’s life, and that this is one of the truest rewards of being an artist.
