"Beauty, the search for it and its sharing is the calling of the artist. How rich the lives of those who choose to paint, for beauty so generously fills the world." - Rip MattesonMany of Rip's paintings were inscribed on the back of the canvases with quotations from renowned poets such as Robert Browning, William Yeats, and Ralph W. Emerson. In his way Rip was a poet who employed a brush rather than a pen, but in any case, it was his way of sharing his view of truth and beauty. That was his calling and that is how he will be remembered.Art Training:San Jose State College, San Jose; University of California, Berkeley; California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland; Scuola Di Belle Arte, Rome; Parsons School of Design, New York.Major Influences:Andrei Rublev, Goya, Masaccio, Cezanne, Botticelli, Klimt, Girogione, Egon Schiele, Titian, Modigliani, El Greco, MatisseExhibited in Annuals in San Francisco, St. Louis and Richmond. Winner of the Phelen Award for Achievement in Art. Winner of the Crocker Purchase Award in ArtDrawings published in: The New Yorker, Saturday Review, Mother Jones, National Enquirer, Saturday Evening Post, Writers Digest, Pathfinder, PlaygirlMember of the Carmel Art Association since 1950.Member of the Richmond Art Association since 1975.Member of the Cartoonists Guild since 1977.