Rick Castanho

Rick Castanho

Rick Castanho was born in Massachusetts, 1962, living much of his early years in coastal New England. Rick's talent, passion, and drive for creativity developed at an early age in his writing, drawing, and painting. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in 1984 where he also studied printmaking & sculpture.

Rick enjoyed early success with his plein air pastel drawings of New England landscapes, capturing the energy and vibrancy in nature with an explosive color palette. Inspired by 19th century impressionism, as well as the early works of artist Jasper Johns, Rick has developed a much admired and rich exploratory approach to color and texture.

His energetic landscape paintings sing with a lush color palette and painterly knife technique that Rick feels "comes alive" on the canvas capturing the energy, motion, and spirit found in nature. 

Today Rick lives with his wife Marion in Rutherfordton, NC where he enjoys painting, printmaking, and woodworking.