{"Id":7825,"Name":"Richard B Hall","Biography":"\u003Cp\u003EFor 35 years, I enjoyed a successful career in fine art, exploring the opposing worlds of abstract art and traditional still life.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut chance intervened when a mischievous toddler added her two-cents worth to one of my still life settings, prompting me to see my work in an entirely new way.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe incident occurred in 2010 when I entered my home studio to find a still life setup of vintage hand tools had been augmented with a plastic dump truck and driver by my young granddaughter, who had carefully placed the small toy in the thick of the scene.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIntrigued by the juxtaposition between the weathered tools and the bright plastic, I tinkered with the display until I got the idea for The Great Escape \u0026ndash; wherein a brave dump truck driver starts a Rube Goldberge-esque process in motion to rescue his toolbox-imprisoned friends.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince I was already \u0026ldquo;breaking the rules\u0026rdquo; for appropriate still life subject matter, I decided to step even further outside the genre by incorporating an abstract background. The artistic union was complete: still life precision, abstract art vibrancy, and a way to insert my cheeky British humor \u0026ndash; all in one painting.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMy wife Sharon and I laughed the whole time I was designing the scene. It was such fun to tell a story in this way.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003EPerhaps the funniest thing about The Great Escape was that I assumed that\u0026nbsp;my collectors wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be interested in the work, fearing they would find the lighthearted subject matter to be too frivolous. Much to my surprise, I sold the painting before the varnish was even dry.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince this time, I have been satisfying collectors nationwide who enjoy my blend of the worlds of realism and abstract art served with dollop of humor and wordplay.\u003C/p\u003E\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;I\u0026rsquo;ve had people burst into tears when they see a painting that triggers a memory and also had people burst into laughter when they see the humor in an image. Knowing that people have such a personal reaction to the work is the best part of what I do.\u003C/p\u003E","Awards":null,"HasAlbums":false,"HasPortraits":false,"HasRelationships":false,"HasArticles":false,"HasDepictedPlaces":false,"HasLetters":false,"HasLibraryItems":false,"HasProducts":false,"HasSignatures":false,"HasVideos":false,"HasMapLocations":false,"TotalArtworks":25}