68 SIDELINES JANUARY 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
working in the cooler blues, greens and purples or wherever the
painting leads me. I love to add a sense of drama to the scene
via directed light and deep shadows at day’s end. Night Moves is
one of my favorite examples of drama inside the herd at the end
of day.
Adding texture, which I do often, contributes to the depth of
the painting, delivering that third, sculpture-like, dimension. I fnd
that texture, also known as impasto, conveys a sense of aging
and time, somewhat reminiscent of petroglyphs on ancient cave
walls. Most of my paintings have some element of time - a before
and an after, a time of day, or a passage through evolutionary
cycles. Occasionally I enjoy combining the elements of nature in
unorthodox ways to yield a very natural result. The Hard Breeze is
a prime example of this as the story morphs from the static stone
wall into the free fowing arc of a horse in full motion. Texture is
also a great courier of motion as the tone falls within the fssures
of the raised paint, adding to the rhythm of the movement as
illustrated in Sundown Stampede.
Phase II is the Open Range
Wall Street and the stress of bureaucracy and politics are far
behind me now. I enjoyed my career when I was in it. Right now,
I am enjoying phase II - my journey through my right brain. I like
the variety of the creative process and I don’t restrict myself to
disciplines. In fact, I love learning and trying something new and
breaking some rules. Some time ago, I embarked on a project to
sculpt a mare and foal, nuzzling together for my lawn. It took two
years to complete - it will be quite a while before I do another.
I was in the feature flm business for a while and made a
few short flms but found it paradoxical that you needed money
to be creative - that was backwards. Also, I have written three
books, one was optioned for a feature flm. The books range
from fction and non-fction, humor and drama. Interestingly, only
one (Dutching the Book) was about horses - horse racing and
gambling in 1960’s Brooklyn. I have three other books in various
states of completion. I live in the quaint community of Hopewell,
New Jersey with my wife, Virginia, two labs, Brandi and Raven
and Ziggy, my cockatoo.
To learn more about Ritch Gaiti, visit www.Gaiti.com.
“The Hard Breeze” - Oil 24 x 48. The static stone wall morphs into the free fowing arc of a horse in motion.
“Three Feathers Before the Storm” - Oil 36 x 24. A solitary Indian
searches for the lost destiny of the entire culture.