Richard Pepp
Richard Pepp
Perkins Cove, watercolor
“After I retired from a busy schedule teaching English at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, I became a part-time teacher at Suffolk University. I thought I needed a hobby as well, and I decided to join a class to try to paint with watercolors. After all, I reasoned, I used watercolors as a kid; how hard could it be?
I signed up for a class at the Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, and I quickly found out how hard. People who knew painting said, “Oh yeah, watercolors, that’s the hardest.” Over the next few years I took other classes, mostly of the adult ed “paint what you want” variety. With very little formal instruction, I filled up notebooks with sketches. (When I taught at Suffolk, I filled pages with portraits drawn quickly as I rode the Orange Line to work Nobody ever looked up from their phone.)
My paintings are a record of where I am, and where I’ve been. I was inspired by the Gloucester paintings of Edward Hopper to find beauty in the ordinary. I live in Roslindale, so my paintings tend to involve houses, busy streets, a few cars, and, blessedly, the Arnold Arboretum.
Mostly, I just paint for myself, friends, and family, although I’ve participated in Roslindale Open Studios. Encouraged by my friend Linda Dunn, who taught me print-making at Massasoit, I entered paintings in the Canton Art Fair and the Blanche Ames Juried Art Exhibition show at Borderlands.
My recent involvement with the Dedham Art Association has been a joy. I enjoy the company of those I paint with on Tuesday morning. While I sometimes work with acrylics, pastels, and prints, I always come back to watercolors. After all, how hard can it be?”