Dragonfly Serenade – The Artworks of RUSSELL RISKO. This is my submission to the 2022 Lambertville Shad Fest & Poster Art Auction . It was donated to the Jim Hamilton Memorial Shad Festival Scholarship, the charitable mission of the historic Shad Festival.
A semiabstract painting, it draws upon a stylized but sometimes recognizable subject matter similar to those of my ‘Head Games’ series. However, this is my first attempt to capture a subject other than facial interpretations. This style explores a variety of line weights, the variation of directional paths, shape fragments, linear patterns, tetradic colors – and how they all seamlessly fit together.
‘Dragonfly Serenade’ – watercolor and ink on Strathmore 500 Series Aquarius II cold press paper.
Lambertville Shad Fest & Poster Art Auction
All posters sold are original works of art generously donated by local artists to fund the next generation of artists in the Delaware River Valley. Each year work to raise enough money to fund The Jim Hamilton Memorial Shad Festival Scholarship. The scholarship consists of two $10,000 scholarships to two high school seniors going on to pursue a degree in the fine, performing, or culinary arts.
Keeping with the spirit of the Shad Festival, my composition is a play on the fleeting marine ecosystem lifecycle – with the painting’s point of interest focusing on the Dragonfly.
Why the Dragonfly? Life is short. A dragonfly can spend up to several years underwater until it is strong enough to surface, shed its skin and evolve into this beautiful creature. Then it flies free only for a very brief period (up to six months) before it dies.