Construction machinery inspires Summerlin artist

One has to wonder if Richard Ramsdell purposely colored outside the lines in kindergarten. After all, his watercolors are not of blooming roses or still-life forms or waves crashing on a beach. Instead, his latest topic is something near and dear to many art lovers: construction machinery.

No, really.

Ramsdell's work featuring the unusual subject is part of the Nevada Watercolor Society's annual fall show, which is on display through Dec. 7 at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave.

Why did he suspect his works would be chosen for the show?

"Art has to have some unique quality, a unique viewpoint," Ramsdell said. "Judges love that."

Ramsdell said he was drawn to paint the machinery because of its complexity and power. His inspiration was the new fire station being built in Sun City Summerlin. He visited the construction site after hours while it was in the grading phase, taking photos for reference.

There are 14 watercolors in his series. Two were chosen for the show.

Mary Vovsi, publicity chairwoman for the society, agreed that his unusual subject got his work noticed. In the past, she's seen other attention-getters -- extreme abstracts and works that focus on a simple object. Her own entry in this year's show, also on display at the library, is of old hats on a stand.

"You really need to find something different, rather than plain, old landscapes," she said.

"A tired, overworked subject can be done brilliantly with a fresh approach and a stunning composition," said Carl Purcell, who judged the show. "But usually it isn't. That is why, at times, if I see another photographically rendered painting of a vase of flowers on a white lace tablecloth ... I would be hard-pressed to tell it from the last hundred of the same subject."

Still, most people don't think of machinery when they hear the word "watercolor." This is not the first time Ramsdell's work caught the judge's eye.

For other art shows, Ramsdell has entered work that looked through a window, with cool colors for items on the inside and warm ones on the scene outside. His art in another show used horizontal and vertical lines whose junctions prompted an ever-so-slight change in color value.

The subject may be unique, but the artist has to have the control to pull it off. A lot of thought goes into working with the
temperamental medium.

When teaching art at the Sun City Summerlin Art Club, Ramsdell's penchant for doing the unexpected is in full form. One of his classes saw students drawing "negative space." Instead of drawing a leafy tree, for example, the person draws parts of the sky, as seen through its leaves.

For another class, he had students draw an object when it was upside down. Another was an Etch A Sketch of a class: drawing an object with one continuous line. Yet another technique is to draw an object without taking your eyes off it, so you never look at the paper.

"I love the quality of the line," he said of the resulting art. "It's so honest."

Ramsdell's whole life has been about art. He taught it in a school district setting and was later an administrator. He said getting home from work, the last thing he wanted to do was pick up a paintbrush and do more art. It took being away from the 9-to-5 grind to fully unleash his need to create.

"I've done more painting since retiring than I ever did," he said.

After the series is displayed -- he's in talks with the library district to see that come to fruition -- he plans to donate one of the machinery watercolors to the new fire station.

The exhibit can be seen from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information about the Nevada Watercolor Society, visit nvws.org.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.