I am interested in the surface textures and creating paintings that portray them in realistic detail. Hopefully a viewer will feel they can run a hand over the feathers and moss, or grasp an object in the painting.
The subjects of my paintings are usually based on the patterns and textures of nature and human interaction with nature. I have found subjects to paint in remote wilderness areas of the world, local parking lots, and my own backyard.
Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Pearson Art Scholarship
Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago, IL
Ameritech, Detroit, MI
Charles S. Mott Foundation, Flint, MI
General Motors Corporation, Detroit, MI
Elyn and Michael Stubblefield Collection
Natural Wonders: John and Alice Woodson Forester Miniature Collection, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Potter Park Zoological Society, Lansing, MI
"Avian Art Takes Flight." Fine Art Connoisseur, February, 2024
"On the Wing." American Art Collector, September, 2023
"Avian Portraits." American Art Collector, October, 2022
"Marking a Milestone." American Art Collector, March, 2021
"Feathers, Fur & Fins: Animal Art is Thriving." Fine Art Connoisseur, August, 2018
"A Display of Excellence." Artists Magazine, March, 2018
Inspired by Insects: Bugs in Contemporary Art, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., Atglen, PA, 2017
"Rick Pas From moths to modern-day life." Southwest Art, January, 2016
"Interpreting nature." American Art Collector, September, 2015
"Abuzz About Bugs." The Artist's Magazine, July/August, 2015
The Lusitania Conspiracy, Walters Media LLC, Traverse City, MI, 2015 (cover illustrator)
"Layer Upon Layer." The Artist's Magazine, July/August, 2011
"Rick Pas: Touchable Texture." Acrylicartist, Fall, 2010
"Competition Spotlight." The Artist's Magazine, April, 2009
"Holland show features art inspired by nature." The Grand Rapids Press, July 27, 2008
"Don't Miss 'Natural Eye' exhibit at HAAC." The Holland Sentinel, June 12, 2008
"Softening the definition of landscapes." American Art Collector, May 2008
"Nature is in the Details." The Artist's Magazine, October, 2007
"Nature's Surfaces and Textures." Whisper in the Woods, Summer, 2007
"Arizona Best of the West-Animal Art." Southwest Art, May 2007
"Cover Competition Finalists." American Artist Watercolor, Spring, 2007
Pintores de la Naturleza, SEO/Birdlife, Madrid, 1997 (illustrator)
"A Dark, Dark Day Indeed." Audubon, March, 1988 (illustrator)
"Wildlife Artist of the Year." Michigan Out of Doors, December 1987 (article & cover illustrator)
"Music in the Men's Room." Audubon, July, 1985 (illustrator)
"Bird Art Takes Wing at Wausau." Milwaukee Journal, September 11, 1983
"Wildlife Artist of the Year." Michigan Out of Doors, December 1982 (article & cover illustrator)
Artists Magazine Competition, Honorable Mention, 2017
12th Art Renewal Center Salon, Honorable Mention - Animal category
11th Art Renewal Center Salon, Third Place - Animal category
The Artist's Magazine Art Competition Finalist, 2006-2010, 2014
9th Art Renewal Center Salon, Honorable Mention - Animal category
Society of Animal Artists Patricia A. Bott Award for Creative Excellence 2011
Society of Animal Artists Award of Excellence 2010
6th Art Renewal Center Salon, Second Place - Animal category
American Artist Cover Competition Finalist, 2007
Fraser Gallery, Georgetown International Honorable Mention, 2003
Arts for the Parks, Region III Award, 1992
Indiana Migratory Bird Stamp Design, 1985
Michigan United Conservation Clubs' Wildlife Artist of the Year, 1982,1987
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY, Environmental Impact II
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Western Visions
William Baczek Fine Arts, Northampton, MA, Masters of Realism
Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL, Intersect Palm Springs
William Baczek Fine Arts, Winter
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Western Visions
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI, Birds in Art (Also 1983-85, 1987, 1992, 1994, 2000)
Lovetts Gallery, Tulsa, OK, It came from the Artist's Studio
Gallery Victor Armendariz, Take Flight (Solo exhibit)
William Baczek Fine Arts, Winter
William Baczek Fine Arts, Animal Kingdom
National Museum of Wildlife Art, Western Visions
Lovetts Gallery, Braveheart
William Baczek Fine Arts, 25th Anniversary Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer
Gallery Victor Armendariz, The Palette of Pride
The James Museum, St. Petersburg, FL, Environmental Impact II
Lovetts Gallery, Realism, Reveries, & Rhapsody
Gallery Victor Armendariz, New Work
Gallery Victor Armendariz, Front and Center
Corporate Art Advisory, Chicago, IL, Portraits and Places: Redefining Realism
William Baczek Fine Arts, Animal Kingdom
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
Lovetts Gallery, Rear Window
William Baczek Fine Arts, Animal Kingdom
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Winter
Lovetts Gallery, Red
Lovetts Gallery, The Good, the Bad, and the WTF?
William Baczek Fine Arts, 20th Anniversary Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
Monroe Community Church, Grand Rapids, MI, ArtPrize
Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL, Group Exhibition
Lovetts Gallery, Cauldron
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer Part 1
JW Marriott, Grand Rapids, MI, ArtPrize
Handwright Gallery, New Canaan, CT, Small Works
Ann Brierly Gallery, Winnetka, IL, Ann Nathan Gallery Satellite Exhibition
RJD Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY, A Magical Menagerie
William Baczek Fine Arts, Spring
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OH, Environmental Impact
(Exhibition national tour locations include:
The R.W. Norton Art Gallery, Shreveport, LA
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY
Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA
Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC
The Art Museum, SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY
Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, LA
Stauth Memorial Museum, Montezuma, KS
Saint Mary's College Museum of Art, Moraga, CA)
Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI, Interspecies
Alden B. Dow Museum of Science & Art, Midland, MI, The Nature of Art: An Invitational Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
Ann Nathan Gallery, Group Exhibition
Twisted Fish Gallery, Elk Rapids, MI, A Natural Selection
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer Exhibition
Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, MI, Art and the Animal
Gallery Project, Extremes
Gallery Project, Umvelt
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer Group Exhibition
Crooked Tree Arts Center, Petoskey, MI, Juried Fine Arts Exhibition
San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego, CA, Art and the Animal
West Michigan Center for Arts & Technology, Grand Rapids, MI, ArtPrize
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI, Michigan Fine Arts Competition
Gallery Project, Shrines and Altars
Ann Nathan Gallery, Fall Group Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer Group Exhibition
Gallery Project, Animal Intelligence
Holland Area Arts Council, Holland, MI, The Natural Eye
Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI, Art and the Animal
William Baczek Fine Arts, Landscape Exhibition
William Baczek Fine Arts, Summer Group Exhibition
WARD Gallery, Harbor Springs, MI, New Dimensions in the Natural World
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT, Art and the Animal
Gallery Project, Nature Reperceived
Light Street Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Animal House
Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT, Art of the Animal Kingdom
The Wildlife Experience, Parker, CO, AMERICAN BIRDS: A Flight Through Time
WARD Gallery, Summer Celebration
Fraser Gallery, Washington, DC, Contemporary Realism
Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Oradell, NJ, Art and the Animal
Washington Street Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI, Fifth Year Celebration
Fraser Gallery, Georgetown International
Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA, 57th Juried Exhibition
Wild Wings, Lake City, MN, Fall Festival
Center for the Visual Arts, Wausau, WI, Midwest Winter
Cooperstown Art Association, Cooperstown, NY, National 2000
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wildlife: the Artist's View (Also 1990)
National Park Academy of the Arts, Jackson Hole, WY, Arts for the Parks (Also 1990)