Over the holidays we have been highlighting a number of members of Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA), so that you might support them by purchasing original works of art. Thanks to Paul Rybarczyk at BSA for helping me put these together. Visit the BSA website to learn more about the institution – one of the oldest continually operating arts organizations in the country. The last artist on our list is the man who helped me to put together this series on Buffalo Rising, Paul Rybarczyk:
Paul Rybarczyk is a painter of contemporary portraits and figures. He seriously started painting after showing a work in the first members’ show at the Burchfield Penney Art Center which marked the closing of the Rockwell Hall location, in 2008. As a result of that exhibit he received a couple of portrait commissions which encouraged him to continue painting.
Although he has a fine arts degree (BFA in figure drawing, a special major he created for himself), he went to work for 25 years in the advertising business as a designer and copywriter. He did some artwork during those years, but only very sporadically. Forty years after studying human anatomy in his art classes, he found himself studying it again, but this time in massage therapy school when he was studying to become a licensed massage therapist. Talk about making a career change!
People have commissioned portraits from Paul for Christmas, birthday and anniversary gifts. And sometimes, not to commemorate any event at all, but just because they have responded to his colorful, expressive-impressionistic style. In addition to portraits, Paul specializes in paintings of the male nude figure. “That can be a challenge,” he said, “because people are accustomed to seeing images of the female nude, but not so much of the male nude unless they’re “cloaked” in something like a mythological setting.” The male nude figure is making a resurgence in the art world; currently there is a major show taking place in Vienna, called “Naked Men.” Paul’s figure works were featured in “The Art of Man,” a quarterly publication highlighting artists from around the world who work with images of the male figure. After he complained about the publication’s design and writing, he became drafted as its design consultant and copy editor.
His hands-on experience as a massage therapist is a great asset to his figure paintings. “I just can’t paint a landscape,” he said. “The image of human body is what I respond to most. Every time I try a landscape, I wind up painting over it with a figure or portrait.”
Paul is a member of the Buffalo Society of Artists, Western New York Artists Group, Buffalo Niagara Art Association and the Buffalo Fine Arts League. His email is paul.ryb@verizon.net and his website is www.artworkbypaul.com. He welcomes visits to his Elmwood Village studio to view art and discuss commissions.
More Greater Buffalo artists and artisans…
Beth Pederson, Robert Schulman, Paul Klonowski, Betty J. Pitts-Foster, Carol Case Siracuse, Alejandro Gutierrez, Paul Alico, John Sargent, Deborah Stewart, Pat Pendleton, Kristin Damstetter, Alana Adetola Fajemisin, Sarah and John Cozzemera, Rob Hopkins, Jennifer Seth-Cimini, Elisabeth Strong, Michael Mulley, Patricia Schwimmer, Mikel Doktor, Jerome Greenberg, Elizabeth Leader, Jacqueline Welch, Doreen DeBoth, Joe Cascio, Candace Masters, Iris Kirkwood, Lukia Costello, Michael Morgulis, Julie Leatherbarrow, Chris Liberti, Michael Mararian, Daniel Rodgers, Bruce Adams, Ken Payne, Christina Cooke, Elise Anne Brooks, Frank Cravotta, Jackie Albarella, Gary Melius, Melissa Campbell, Jeff Quigley, Nancy Moran, Vincent Alejandro, Patti Harris, Eileen Graetz, Rita Argen Auerbach, Dianne Baker, Norine Spurling, Margaret Raab, Ingrid Luongo