05 Oct Don’t miss tonight’s Art Walk artist, Raquel Tripp, at Hemming Plaza Jewelers

Please join us for tonight’s Art Walk as we feature the amazing portrait artist, Raquel Tripp. Her work will be showcased in Hemming Plaza Jewelers from 5:00pm to 9:00pm, this evening, Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

Born and raised in Ecuador, Raquel currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida. After obtaining her MBA degree and starting a family, she began to pursue her lifelong passion for art.  Mostly a self taught artist, Raquel continuously develops her talents through art training in portraiture.  She has studied with several professional artists since 1985.  Her affiliations include American award winning Portrait Artist Michael Shane Neal, Ecuadorian Master artist Wilfrido Martinez as well as New England’ own Copley Master artist Mark Hayden.  In Spring 2006 she attended the sought after workshop of artist Dawn Whitelaw and in Winter 2007 Raquel was fortunate to participate in the Art Students League of New York workshop with Everett Raymond Kinstler, one of the nation’s foremost portrait painters. Currently she is studing under the one of the leading portrait artist Ann Kenyon.

Raquel has been a member of the Portrait Society of America since 2002.  Raquel’s work has been exhibited in Ecuador in the Escuela de Perfeccionamiento del Ejercito (Army Staff College), and in the States in the the Jacksonville Hispanic Heritage Festival, the Art Festival in San Marco, the Women center of Jacksonville, and in a solo show in Piano Expo in November 2005.

Raquel has participated in the Second Art Competition organized by the Armed Forces of Ecuador, which won her an Honorable mention in 1991. She won Second Place in all other media in the Greater Haverhill (Massachusetts) Art Association show in 1999.  She was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Oil Pastel Society’s Members show in 2005.

Raquel’s love for life can be seen in all of her works.  She enjoys both plein air and people, with a special interest in portraiture.  Because Raquel has a gift in conveying a subject’s personality and feelings through her strokes, she has been commissioned numerous times to paint both youth and adults.  This gift is also evident in her indigenous portraits where the viewer can feel the warmth of the subject’s spirit, the strength of their character, and the plight of their oppression.

Raquel is a gifted artist with a life long passion to positively touch others.  Working with oils, oil pastels, color pencil, or charcoal, Raquel has many ways to bring the expression of life to art.