Ray Bliss Rich

Ray Bliss Rich received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973 and a Master of Education degree in 1975. At that point he pursued a career in public education. Although Ray always had a strong interest in the arts; he didn't seriously pursue that interest until 1980. He has been painting in the sumi-e style since 1980, and began doing gyotaku prints in 1982, deciding to pursue art as a full time occupation in 1993.

In the early 80's Ray studied sumi-e painting and gyotaku printmaking. The study of these two Oriental art forms has influenced the character of his artwork; just as all aspects of life conspire to the final outcome of his artistic expression. A deep love of the natural world, as well as attachments to the past, can be seen in his work.

Ray Bliss Rich grew up in a small rural community; at a time when self reliance was still revered. Craftsmanship was held in high esteem and frugality was the order of the day. Those are things that influenced his pursuit of the simplicity of sumi-e; and those influences can be seen in his unique application of the tools and techniques of that discipline. A natural extension of that was the pursuit of nature printing (including gyotaku) a couple of years later.

One of the things that initially attracted Ray to the sumi-e style is the fact that you can still see the paper. It isn’t virtually covered up as with other water media styles. This quality lends itself to the use of very unique papers. After several years of using imported papers Ray began to make his own. Now all of his paintings are done on his own hand made paper. This means the hand of the artist is all the more evident in Ray's work.

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