Artist: Rick Hurst

Metal Abstract from 12 large photos

18"W x 24"L

"As a result of becoming profoundly deaf at the age of two, my visual sense has heightened far beyond that of the many artists. I am truly a Visual Artist.

My childhood in Hattiesburg, MS focused on learning to communicate and function within a hearing world. My refuge was to immerse myself in the natural world around me - experiencing the beauty of nature, the vibrancy of color, the variety of architecture. This eventually led me to a 1982 Bachelor of Fine Arts with minors in Art History and Advertising from the University of Southern Mississippi, and to a 1984 Summer Course in Illustration at Parsons School of Design in New York, NY. Not finding a job in the arts field, I joined the federal government in the early 1980's, and eventually retired in Washington, DC as a paralegal in 2011.

I was eager to return to my first love - art. I moved to the Gulf Coast, converted my new garage into an artist's studio, and revived my talents in acrylics and watercolors and my interest in abstract forms. I participated in art markets, artists' co-ops, galleries and art shows, even winning awards and mounting a 6-month one-man show. All these venues were in multiple cities in Alabama and western Florida.

To satisfy my cravings for new avenues of creativity, I began experimenting with digital photos of nature, architecture and my own artwork, altering colors and combining them in multiple overlays. By the time I moved to St Petersburg, Florida in 2016, I was wholly committed to the digital art world.

Now my tools for expressing myself as an artist have changed: I work with clean hands - no brushes, no pencils, no splattered acrylics, watercolors or oils - and I can take new photographs and work digitally from any location.

My photography captures the beauty and spirit of nature and the real world. I meld these into digital artworks using multiple exposures, layers, color transformations and advanced art filters - images which may live through many iterations until I am satisfied, or until I step away for another day.

Each digital image is my personal expression of inspiration from the real world, explored and revealed through my own artistic imagination. I feel a magical warmth as an image emerges.

My purpose is to awaken curiosity and prompt introspection in those who view my art, to feed their inner being, to have my images resonate with them through my creativity. I want to expose both art enthusiasts and the general public to a complex medium they have seldom seen before.

I consider digital art a broad artistic leap beyond the world of photography, but in this digital age it can become a new outlet for self-expression, regardless of your innate artistic talents. I am even planning an online booklet as a beginner's guide to how to move beyond a smartphone's photos into a broadened realm of individual creativity.
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