Artist Portrait: Richard Jordan

For Richard Jordan, Director of the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan, nothing compares artistically to plein air painting. “Standing in the very landscape I’m painting is a challenging, sometimes humbling experience, but it’s always very satisfying regardless whether it’s successful or not. Soaking in the surrounding landscape is as important to me as the painting itself.”

Richard says he is not drawn to paint what many might think are obvious outdoor scenes. For example sunny days on the beach, fl ower gardens, old barns, or colorful fall leaves, though he says he’s certainly painted his share of them. Instead he is drawn to gray melancholy days, small ponds fi lled with lily pads or overgrown fi elds. He feels there’s a hidden energy in those types of landscapes, that you somehow sense passing time.

Richard studies the works of the American Tonalists and American Impressionists. The Tonalists sought to capture mood and the spiritual harmony of nature. While the Impressionists, were less concerned with emotion and instead painted the effects of light and shadow. Many great artists who we don’t normally associate with plein air painting like John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth to mention a few, worked ceaselessly en plein air.

Richard was born in Kalamazoo and still lives there today with his wife Cheryl. After they were married in 1978, they moved to Sarasota Florida where Richard attended the Ringling School of Art and Design, graduating with honors in 1981.

He began plein air painting in 1997 and he says it changed his life. “I knew I had found what my inner artist had longed for.” At that time, he was mid-way through a 28-year career with the Kalamazoo Gazette as a page designer and illustrator. In 2008, he formed the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan and continues to serve as its director today.

In 2013, He began teaching plein air workshops, which he has found very enjoyable and benefi cial to his own growth as an artist. Last year, he was selected for the Alpena Artist in Residence program and spent two weeks painting on the island of the Alpena Wildlife Sanctuary. He said it was a wonderful experience and one of the highlights of his painting career.

This past spring, Richard began teaching both general painting and plein air painting via private lessons to adult students at their homes.

For more information about the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan, Richard’s workshops or private lessons, please contact him through email at: artistrichardjordan@gmail.com