Rick Wise
Rick Wise spent over 50 years as a Bay Area cinematographer before moving to his current home in Amador City. Since relocating, he has turned to fine art photography as his medium. Wise, however, has created his own variation, using multiple images to produce a new artwork. He will be featured at Sutter Creek Gallery in November, with an opening reception on Saturday, November 4, from 2 to 5 p.m.
Each piece most frequently begins as a group of related photographs taken by the artist. With a blank canvas in Photoshop, Wise brings in individual shots to play with. He moves them around, excludes some elements, distorts others, and adjusts the scale until the parts combine into a new whole piece. He then plays with filters and additional masking to bring new life to the image. “At some point,” he explains, “a kind of shock goes through me, telling me this image is now complete.” The process for one piece might take from 5 to 50 hours.
Currently Wise is working on a series based on spheres, such as Sweet Potato Window. Visitors enjoy trying to parse some of his images, as in the case of Tamale Dreams, which may require a bit of study. The artist also offers his unique take on self-portraits or portraits of a loved one, calling them “Uncommon Portraits,” which can be ordered from the artist. Rick Wise is one of twenty-two local artists exhibiting at the gallery located in the heart of Sutter Creek at 40 Main Street. Besides original paintings and photography, the gallery offers affordable prints, cards, jewelry, pottery, scarves, and glass art, as well as framing services. The gallery is open Thursday through Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For additional information, call 209-267-0228.
Tamale Dreams
Sweet Potato Window
Hard Wired