The opening reception of the exhibition “Rick Shaefer: Rendering Nature” will be held on September 18 from 6-8 p.m. at the Bellarmine University of Art at Fairfield University. “Rick Shaefer: Rendering Nature” is on view from September 18 – February 7, 2015. The reception and admission to the Belllarmine are free and open to the public.

Connecticut-based artist Rick Shaefer is best known for his remarkable works in charcoal on vellum. Inspired directly by the textural richness of the natural world as well as the communicative power of “the line,” Shaefer gravitates towards subjects that are as visually compelling as they are intellectually engaging. Massive oak trees felled by the forces of nature and magisterial creatures, including the American Bison and Indian Rhinoceros, reflect his profound interest in the capacity of bold mark-marking to evoke the visual patterns of our lived environment. They equally speak to his stated interest in the powerful intersection of the human and the natural worlds and the resulting dialogues – historical, mythological, and anthropomorphic – to which these collisions give rise. Shaefer’s charcoal drawings will be complemented by more than a dozen of his cloud paintings, many of which have never been exhibited publicly before and several of which were painted specifically for the Bellarmine’s main gallery.