By Maria Lamb (Coastal Breeze News) June 22, 2023
So, what do Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein have in common? How about Leonardo DaVinci, who painted The Mona Lisa? Back in his time, Da Vinci was considered a Renaissance super genius – a leading inventor, scientist and artist. Multitalented geniuses like DaVinci, Picasso, and Einstein are called polymaths, and they seem to excel from both left and right brain hemispheres working cooperatively.
Scientists and artists both start out traveling similar paths with their passionately curious minds. Left-brained scientists strive to understand how things work and follow specific sets of rules and rigorously test their theories before arriving at a conclusion. The artists, who are more likely to be right-brain dominant, draw from the emotive reserves, and are less restricted by rules and logic.
Artist Rick Granneman and his wife Billie, a paper and book artist, moved to Marco Island in 2007 after retirement. Rick received his Ph.D. in chemical physics and was VP in R/D pharmacologic development at Abbott Labs. He contributed to the approval of life-changing drugs such as HUMIRA, DEPAKOTE, KALETRA and NORVIR. This sounds like a left-brainer CV, but the other hemisphere has since emerged. How can one be an analytical thinker and a creative artist too?
After retirement, Rick was active in the Artist Colony at the Esplanade and Marco Center for the Arts. Both Rick and Billie had showings at the La Petite Galerie.
Rick’s art is, well, “eclectic,” and his style is varied but generally realistic and his paintings reflect influences and techniques of masters such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Monet, Van Gogh and the Hudson River School. According to Rick, “My ultimate goal is to satisfy the elements of art aesthetics, using design, color, and value to highlight images of past remembrances and the unrecognized beauty in our current surroundings.”
His themes range from nostalgic to contemporary, often with some embedded message, symbolism, or allegory for the viewer to ponder. His media selection of watercolor, acrylic, alcohol ink, oil or pastel depends on subject matter, location and stylistic format. Rick often depicts landscapes and seascapes that evoke “romantic/nostalgic” illustrations of life of bygone years of the people of Southwest Florida.
His favorite, “Working Ladies” (acrylic), is a tribute to the hard lives of fishermen who venture out into the sometimes perilous Gulf. “Marco Sunset” captures our love of sunsets, sometimes spectacular but always leaving opportunities for contemplative appreciation. Another favorite is “Jack’s Lookout,” painted en plein air (outdoors) in pastels. Now Jack’s Lookout is gone, but the memories will persist.
Some of Rick’s paintings have hidden meanings in plain view. Rick also integrates his faith as a part of his art pieces because “that is part of me and my worldview. For me, curiosity of the transcendent, God, is a part of my life and some of my art. Ponder the Big Bang, the cosmos and creation of life, the presence of dark matter and dark energy, topics that science has been unable to adequately explain.”
His most recent Trinity metaphoric painting is a good illustration. On the surface, it looks like a 17th century still life but to him the candle reflects the Holy Spirit, the Bible is the Word – Jesus, and the flowers represent God’s creation of life and the beauty of our Goldilocks planet.
Rick hopes his paintings are inspirational and emotive. As with most artists, there is simultaneous interplay of both hemispheres: technical virtuosity, perspective, proportion, placements of shadows and lights use left brain rules and procedures while the right brain is more concerned with composition, flow, edge patterns, color, novelty and big picture overview. Rick always plays his favorite music when he paints, and he believes this enhances right brain participation. Aesthetics and hemispheric dominance vary among artists, and Rick seems to integrate both in his approach to art.
To view a collection of Rick’s paintings, many of which have commentary attached, visit his website at: rickgranneman.com
Original Article:
Are You a Left or a Right Brain Artist? | | coastalbreezenews.com