"Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I can remember and I remember more than I can see" Let me help you "see" what you may not remember and "remember" what you may not see!” - Benjamin Disraeli
"Low Tide in Saint Michel" by Richard Shu, watercolor, 12x14in, 2017, $780
67 year-old Taiwan-born artist Richard Shu calls himself an “urban sketcher.” After a long and noted career as an architect, he documents his extensive travels in watercolor sketches executed with a sure eye for the fundamental design elements of a scene. As a medium, watercolor welcomes certainty in the choice of color and the placement of marks, and Shu’s careful study of his subjects is evident in the work, an almost naïve application that expresses a sophisticated sensibility.
Shu views his paintings as an ongoing document of his life experience “My art is part of my journey through watercolor, I travel, sketch and paint the image and space that I see.” The images have an immediacy about them that reinforces the idea of a sketchbook, or perhaps even closer to a diary, capturing impressions of a time and place with a brush instead of words.
“I started my journey when I was 12 years old, when my parents sent me to Guayaquil, Ecuador from Taipei, Taiwan. It was in Ecuador that I started to study architecture, but finished my undergraduate study in Madrid, then was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania for my graduate studies. After graduating, I found work in Chicago with the international firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. I moved to Louisville in 1982, worked for a local architectural firm for 2 years, then started my own Design Build firm and practice till 1999. In 2000 I transitioned into a total different career in the investment field. I am retired now and back on exploring the creative passion that I missed for so long.”
Name: Richard Shu
Age: 67
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: MA, Architecture, University of Pennsylvania.
Website: richardshuarts.com
Instagram: mistashu
"The Harbor" by Richard Shu, watercolor, 12x14in, 2017, $800
"Low Country" by Richard Shu, watercolor, 12x14in, 2017, $780
"El Capitan" by Richard Shu, watercolor, 14x14in, 2017, $850
Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.
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