shadow lovers 6pefmp (1996) Painting by Richard Herr

The angry face of a dark, bushy-browed man staring out from a page in Life magazine first beckoned Richard Herr, at the age of eleven, to pursue art. He sketched the man's threatening face and has never stopped drawing.

Richard's ability to draw was acknowledged by his father as a hobby, therefor Richard studied chemistry at the University of North Carolina and, later, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Design from Georgia Tech. A Naval Commission followed. Herr found time between duties to sketch during the two years he spent aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri La. Upon discharge, he was accepted into the design department at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Here he did he first sculpture and painting. Professionally, Herr built a career in structural package design, working in New York City and then the Los Angles area for Mattel Toys. Privately his free time was spent sketching, painting, and creating abstract human form sculptures.

Moving to Oregon in the 70's, Herr branched out professionally into different businesses until settling on home remodeling and reconditioning. He scheduled his work so to ensure he had time for art. Nearing retirement, art began to eclipse other activities. Herr, who paints mostly in acrylics and casts his sculpture pieces in bronze and polyurethane resin, still focuses exclusivelyu on the human form. Rarely working from models, Herr says the forms create themselves.

• Nationality: UNITED STATES
• Date of birth : 1940
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary American Artists