It’s rafting season on the Concord River. The recent rain should help put a little lift in the rapids. Contact the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust for details on trips. Here’s a painting by Richard Marion that captures the scene. To see more artwork, visit www.richardmarion.net
Last night, nearly 20 people gathered at the Moses Greeley Parker Library in Dracut for an illustrated lecture by Richard Marion, who showed in Powerpoint format about 25 images of Lowell places, buildings, and scenes from among the hundreds that he has created in the past 40 years. The talk was organized into sections: Mills, Downtown, Rivers and Canals, Neighborhoods, and Bridges. Many of the images have been seen on this blog in the past year, from the Greenwood Bros. building on Lawrence Street to the remembered float planes on the Merrimack downriver from the city.
Interspersed with his comments about composition, line, form, and color were anecdotes like one about a recalled episode in family history when a man’s pay envelope went missing from the third floor of a tenement in Little Canada along the Northern Canal. The envelope with cash and coins had gotten scooped up with bread crumbs on a tablecloth and “lost” when the man’s wife shook the tablecloth out the window. There’s a happy ending to this story: the envelope that had gone in to the canal and had sunk to the bottom because of the coins was retrieved the next day when the canal was drained of water to allow for maintenance of the system.
Regular visitors to richardhowe.com have seen his colorful paintings and distinctive drawings.
The Moses Greeley Parker Library in Dracut will present “A Night with Richard Marion: Lowell–The Observed and Painted City” tomorrow, Tuesday, March 27, at 7.00 pm at Dracut’s public library, 28 Arlington Street. The illustrated lecture is free and open to the public. He will talk about his artwork and how Lowell has been a compelling subject for him since the 1960s.
“Richard Marion captures in his linear drawings landmarks of the city. With ink, pencil, and watercolor, his posters and montages of Lowell and its surrounding environment reveal an eye for essential and picturesque composition.”
—Ann Shector, Lowell Sun
Coming soon to the Concord River. “Whitewater Rafting” by Richard Marion (c) 2012 See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
“Lowell: The Observed and Painted City”— Register for an illustrated lecture by Richard Marion at the Moses Greeley Parker Library in Dracut on March 27, 7 p.m.
Richard Marion, a local artist for more than thirty years, will be discussing his artwork and the subject of much of his artwork, the city of Lowell. His paintings and drawings have been praised as imaginative and bold, and his distinctive use of line and color have combined in a style that is Marion’s signature.
Richard Marion captures, in his linear drawings, landmarks of the city. With ink, pencil, and watercolor, his posters and montages of Lowell and its surrounding environment reveal an eye for the essential and picturesque composition.” A. Schecter, Lowell Sun
A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art, the Boston Museum School, Chicago School of Interior Design, and Art Institute of Philadelphia, Marion has served on the Advisory Boards of the Massachusetts Arts Lottery and the University of Lowell’s Art Department. He was the founder of Gallery 21, Lowell’s first commercial art gallery.
Richard Marion outside his Gallery 21 on Hurd St., Lowell, 1979. Web photo courtesy of Kevin Harkins, Harkins Photo (c) 1979, 2012. For more images by Kevin Harkins or www.harkinsphoto.wordpress.com
“Concord and Merrimack Confluence” by Richard Marion (c) 2012
See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
Here’s a memory painting of a night scene at the movies on Central Street in Lowell: “The Strand” by Richard Marion (c) 2012
See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
Here’s a link to Nancye Tuttle’s museum exhibition brochure about the movie theaters in Lowell. Her 1993 exhibit was called “Picture It: Lowell Goes to the Movies.”
This one is for everyone who will be ordering Chinese food for New Year’s Eve.
“Take-Out” by Richard Marion (c) 2011
See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
“Venice of the North Series: Boott Cotton Warehouse, Eastern Canal” by Richard Marion (c) 2011
See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
This one is for the Bruins fans who watched the B’s shut out the Flyers today, 6-0.
“Hockey Players” by Richard Marion (c) 2011
See more artwork at www.richardmarion.net
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