Please join the Seabrook Island Artist Guild for a reception
to meet Dick and view his work.
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
4:30-6:00 pm
The Lake House Art Wall Hallway
Dick graduated from a Pennsylvania State University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in psychology and sociology. Already having a young family, Dick quickly realized he needed to actually earn a decent living.
While working as a claims adjuster for a major insurance company, Dick obtained his Pennsylvania real estate license in 1970. After the mandatory two-year apprenticeship, Dick opened his own Century 21 broker’s office in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.
After a successful and stressful 19 years, he sold the business. Always being drawn to the ocean, Dick purchased a 37-foot blue water sailboat which, after several years of cruising, brought him into Charleston harbor where he still owns a boat today.
Dick was a late bloomer when it came to anything artsy. Although always having a creative side, most of his creative outlet was in restoring and “up-cycling” old homes in downtown Charleston. His most recent project was a 170-year-old classic brick Charleston home slightly south of Broad Street. Just walking through the front door of a derelict old home got his creative juices flowing.
It was about 1995 when a friend suggested that Dick enroll in a basic drawing class at the Gibbes Museum of Art. Doing so was a real breakthrough. The course was based on the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. Yes, anyone can learn to draw. He was so enthralled that he took six other courses at the Gibbes: watercolor, figure drawing, advanced drawing, composition, and acrylic painting plus a plein air course.
After retiring and moving to Seabrook Island in 2008, Dick finally had some free time and started painting in oils under the tutelage of Bob LeFevre. Dick has been a member of the Seabrook Island Art Guild since 2008. He has mostly painted in oils but has recently been dabbling in pastels. Most of Dick’s work involves boats, the ocean and marshes.
Please enjoy Dick’s art work in The Lake House during the month of May and come to the reception Tuesday, May 6 from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm in the Art Wall hallway.
-Submitted by Seabrook Island Artist Guild
(Image credit: Dick Barnola)