"My father Don Ricks, was the son of an Idaho turkey farmer. He always dreamed of becoming an artist, but he chose to stay in a small Southeast Idaho town to raise his seven children, four boys and three girls. He became a sign painter and we all worked in that business as we grew. When my dad was forty, he met Sergei Bongart who had immigrated (escaped) from Kiev Ukraine after World War Two. That meeting changed everything.
My dad and all three of my brothers became professional artists. I was the youngest and was the least interested in art. At seventeen, I started a picture frame company which later became known as Allman-Ricks Master Frame Makers. When I was forty, a chain of events, including the September Eleventh attacks, moved me to follow in the tradition of my artist saturated family. Up until that time, I was constantly seeking new and more elaborate projects. I had a restlessness that I was unable to satisfy. The effect of that restlessness was impacting my business in a negative way. Painting was my solution and I always feel at home and at peace when I’m in front of my easel. I’ve thought a lot about nature or nurture as to how an artist is made. I’m sure that there must be something shared between family members as well as the observation of what goes into making a work of art. Opinions about what makes or breaks a painting were formed during conversations at meal time and other random discussions. I also imagine that there is some sort of spiritual fraternity between artists both living and deceased. In 2010, I made my first of several trips to Ukraine and to Russia. I visited the National Academy of Art and Architecture in Kiev and reintroduced the faculty to Sergei through a book about his life and artwork, entitled “Sergei Bongart” by Mary Balcomb. In 2015, I brought a book to leave with the academy. They had very few pre-war photos so they were pleased to receive the book. When I returned in 2017, the professors had pieced together Sergei’s art education which had been influenced by a pair of brothers who taught at the academy. As of this writing, my last trip to Ukraine was in 2018. I’ve always felt connected to Kiev, now pronounced Kyiv. Just this month, May of 2023, one of my dearest Ukrainian friends was killed in the bloody fighting near Bakmut. Currently I’m involved with several projects which raise money for the soldiers and for refugee families. One foundation,”To Ukraine With Love,” builds new modular homes assembled on the foundations of homes destroyed by the war. In St. Petersburg in February of 2017, I visited with an amazing artist in his studio, located in a section of the city full of artists’ atelier’s. I returned to my hotel room for a nap. At 10:30 PM, I went out into one of the world’s great cities. It seemed to me as if the whole city was built in the pursuit of beauty. I found myself looking across the Neva River, at the reflections of the famous Hermitage Museum. The ice was breaking up, and patterns of glowing brightness, contrasted against soft snow-covered sheets of ice, creating stunning passages of light and color. I said to my two midnight comrades, consisting of a taxi guy and a coffee vendor, “how many nights like this are in a man’s life?” Only the fates can answer! Some time ago, I coined a phrase about art which I think describes my life as an artist, 'Art is a journey of discovery and transformation…You never know where it might lead. Start the Journey!'" - Martin Edwin Ricks Vertical Divider
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