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Goose Creek
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Enchanted Forest
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David is best known for his realistic, yet impressionistic portrayal of water, skies, and the vistas of the Colorado high country and it's wildlife.
Formal training in Graphic Design gave David a strong sense of composition and color.
Although primarily self-taught, David has studied and been influenced by the work of Levitan, Moran, and Rungius among many others, past and present.
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Platt College; Aroura, CO; 1996-1997
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2010, Louisville National Exhibition, 1 pages (color), Exhibition Catalog
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1996, Platt College Alumuni Show, Honorable Mention
1998, Greeley National Exhibition
1999, Loveland National Exhibition
1999, Greeley National Exhibition
2002, Gilpin County Fair, 1st Prize
2010, Loveland National Exhibition
2010, Paint the Parks, Top 200
2011, Rocky Mountain Climbers Club, Solo Exhibition
2011, Great Western Art Gallery, Solo Exhibition
2011, Paint the Parks, Top 100
2012, Paint the Parks, Top 100
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2011, Highlands Ranch Herald, David Ridge Captures the Outdoors
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Hilliard Moore, Great Western Art Gallery, Denver
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Artist Statement:
Since I can remember, I've always been drawn to the outdoors, and especially the mountains and high country. I am so very fortunate to live in Colorado, where I find unending inspiration for my painting.
As a kid, growing up without a TV in the house, I placed my energies into other pursuits - mainly reading, fishing, and drawing. As a child in elementary school and middle school, I gained a certain notoriety for my abilities as a budding artist. An early memory is of being in 4th grade and being asked by the principal to create a series of recruiting posters for the various sports teams in the upper grades. When a new kid moved to my town, professing mad drawing skills, a 'draw-off' was quickly arranged in the lunchroom to see who could claim the title of 'best draw-er' in school. I won, the other kid was disqualified for rendering his battleship with the aid of a ruler!
Moving to Colorado from the Pacific Northwest in the early Eighties, I was taken with the landscape of this awesome state. A lifelong fly-fisher, my forays to the mountains in search of trout took me to some of the most visually exciting places - soaring peaks, meandering river valleys, deep gorges and rushing streams, placid alpine lakes. Reverently, I took it all in.
Although I had been working in the high-tech field for years, I needed a more creative outlet, and yearned for a change in careers. I received a degree in Graphic Design in 1997, and during those college years I began to paint, my native artistic side had been awakened by coursework in color theory and composition.
Since then, I have been 'finding myself' as a fine artist, portraying Western landscapes and wildlife in oil. My inclination has been to produce studio work, my innate attention to detail has demanded a more linear environment than plein air, although I do color and composition studies outdoors of many of my subjects, and combine them with more detailed photographs to produce a finished piece. I find this process works well for me, although I intend to explore producing more finished work in an outdoor setting.
I am 'haunted by waters' as the saying goes in "A River Runs Through It". Water has always held a huge fascination for me, and probably 80% of my paintings have water portrayed in them in some form. It is a great challenge to represent something so kinetic and ethereal as a galloping river or a still lake reflection. When it works, it is very satisfying, and I enjoy the problem-solving it takes to create water scenes realistically.
Over the years I have had the pleasure of participating in many regional and national juried shows, as well as being represented by such fine galleries as Great Western Art Gallery in Denver, The Eastin Gallery in Allenspark, Red Canyon Art Company in Lyons, and Spirits in the Wind Gallery in Golden, Colorado.
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