There are few artists who inhabit their own genre of art in a way that pleases both the standards of scientific details as well as the pleasures of fine art collectors. Ford Riley is one of these renowned artists inhabiting the realm of southern habitat artistry. Ford Riley is a native of Jacksonville, Florida. He and his wife Elizabeth have homes in Jacksonville, Florida; Thomasville, Georgia; and Hammock Beach, Florida, and Riley’s studio is located along the bank of the St. John’s River. This studio, which is nestled among four acres of woodland, the backwaters of Northeast Florida, and his hunting property in Georgia all serve as consistent sources of subject matter and inspiration. Riley began painting upon the request and encouragement of his late mother, who was also an accomplished artist. He sacrificed a business career to pursue his passion for art, but he has now formed a career from his love for the outdoors. “When I started working on my art, no one was portraying the South the way the masters had painted other parts of the country; there was no southern Winslow Homer,” Riley said. “I spent years studying artists that painted scenes I could relate to, looking at the way they layered colors and used their palette. I took what I could from their techniques and applied them to the natural habitats that I grew up in.” The area of art in which he saw a gap has now been filled; Riley has now been called the “Audubon of the 1980’s.” He works equally well in watercolor, acrylic and oil paints; he uses on-site observation as well as research to craft his visual masterpieces. His art portrays his personal connection and relationship with nature that was achieved through years of wandering through the woods, studying the patterns of the seasons, and journaling the habits and habitats of animals. “I’ve been walking amongst these woods, these scenes, all my life,” Riley said. “I grew up near the marsh, studying birds. I still love to watch them, to paint them. I know trees, and I know the landscape, and I believe that everything in art should look like its truest form. I understand the natural order of things here; I paint realistically because I understand the land. I paint what I’m familiar with. If I can’t smell it or feel it, I can’t conceivably paint it. I paint my area – the South.” Riley paints what he knows, and, because of that, his inspiration is not often driven straight from a photograph. He recreates images in his mind and paints from memory. “Painting, like storytelling, is authentic when the artist brings together his life experiences and his surroundings, and I have the luxury of painting from my own,” Riley said. While his work appears to be realism at first glance, the light and shadow composition creates detailed strokes resembling an impressionistic style, turning solid colors into detailed textures. After being connected by a relative of Riley’s and a long-time friend of our Gallery Director, Brenda McClain, Ford Riley became one of our artists in 2015.