 Rob has had a lifelong interest in art, music and architecture, and
attended Lafayette College in the liberal arts program. He is a member
of the Alexandria Art League and studies at the Art League school. His
works have been on display there and at other venues, and in
collections around the country and the world. He started painting in
watercolor in 1985, when he was working as a software developer in the
Northern Virginia area, where he grew up.
With his background in software development, it was natural for Rob
to discover that digital photography and computers are useful modern
tools which can suggest new ways of presenting a traditional subject. Otherwise, his inspiration is old fashioned: |
"The subject must move me in some way, i.e.,
how the light reveals a pattern, or a feeling that's evoked by being in
its presence, or simply its beauty or symbolism. It may come from a
feeling of respect and admiration for the subject. It may possess an
interesting color scheme, subtle or strong, or an unusual use of
combined imagery or geometry."
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Rob is constantly searching for unique ways to
express a personal vision in each of his works. Over the years, he has
developed a style that is sometimes traditional, and sometimes not so
traditional, but the results are always interesting. For example, he
has developed a technique of combining watercolor with wax resist to
create texture. The wax layer works to 'decompose' the image in a way
that creates a suggestion of detail, rather than a strict copy of the
subject. This encourages the viewer's imagination to become more fully
engaged.
He is currently working on a book that details some of these
techniques, and his approach to painting in general. In addition to
watercolor, Rob works in other media including acrylic, pastel, oil,
and colored pencil.
In 2006, Rob won the People's Choice award at the first annual
Riverbend Plein air paint out at Riverbend Park on the Potomac river,
where 25 local and nationally recognized artists competed for prizes.
Subsequently he was elected president of the Riverbend Artists Group.
Starting in 2007, Rob has been teaching watercolor landscape painting at Riverbend Park.
For more information, contact Rob at: rnevitte@verizon.net |
