Rick Everingham -Artist in Tuscany

Rick Everingham
Rick Everingham has been dreaming of Italy since 1977. That was the year of his first visit to Tuscany, the year that he decided Florence was the most beautiful city he'd ever seen. Everingham, an Australian native, has been a professional painter for 38 years (he has recently added sculpture to his repetoire). Italy has been his greatest inspiration and, since 1999, his adopted homeland. His paintings capture the heart and soul of the country through use of the simplest of images: a shady alleyway, an ancient bridge, the crumbling facade of a building in an idyllic Italian town. He paints the scenes he loves, the ones he sees all around him in his home in Tuscany and those glimpsed during his travels throughout Italy. In a world full of dark and troubling images, Everingham paints peaceful, life affirming scenes infused with light and color. His work is wonderfully evocative. “If I can paint a picture and it gives me the same feeling I had when I saw it for the first time, then I know it's right.” His work reminds us that there is, as Everingham says, “an abundance of simple beauty still in the world, waiting wherever we choose to find it.” He tells the story of an exhibition in Brisbane. An Italian woman walked into the gallery and stood in the middle of the room looking at his paintings. She burst into tears, saying, “They are so beautiful. They feel like home.” For Everingham, there could be no higher compliment.
You can view selected paintings and sculptures at the Walking Tours office at Via Sassetti, 1 in Florence. For more information please contact rose@artviva.com or see the exhibition on our web site at www.italy.artviva.com