My House

“My art practice has been a personal emancipation. I have had a severe hearing disability for 30 years. My business career was demanding and often energy-draining. To compensate, I taught myself to lipread and this brought a new dimension to my visual acuity and sensitivity.” After retirement, Richards honored her lifelong desire to be an artist by completing a four-year certificate program at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. “As a painter and printmaker, I have discovered a deep need to create and to undertake a daily studio practice that develops my artistic expression and skill.” Richards creates abstract landscapes and tabletop scenes that capture the joy and childlike wonder of the outdoors and life at a simpler time, she says. These places are imaginary, relational or abstract expressions derived from her observation, emotion and memory. “I use color, shape and economy to elevate spirit and bring freshness to the moment. I borrow from my love of mathematics and often break rules to bring freedom to my work.” Richards values the “immense personal freedom” of her studio and one-on-one collaborations with other artists. “My art is intended to energize, inspire and restore. I want it to connect us to our authentic experiences of freedom, uninhibited self-expression, and peace.”