Douglas Ricks

1954 - 2003

Douglas Ricks was one of seven children born to artist Don Ricks. Douglas was born in Logan, Utah, but raised in Rexburg, Idaho - a Mormon colony established in 1883 and named for his great great grandfather, Thomas Edwin Ricks, an influential Mormon church and community leader in both Utah and Idaho.

Douglas Ricks’ father was a successful artist who, with a partner, established a successful plein air summer art workshop known as Painting Vacations, which operated for 15 years. Though Douglas and his three brothers were all involved in the program in one way or another, only his brother Russell was determined from an early age to become an artist, while Douglas and his brother Martin were not particularly interested in becoming artists until much later. Douglas recalled, "My father never pushed art on me, and I was just plain not interested…But the summer before I was 18, something happened…I got an urge to paint. Once I showed the interest, my father did everything he could to help me develop my talent.”

For his brother Martin, the decision to become an artist came even later, when the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center severely affected his frame and furniture business. Martin credits his brother with being his guide to becoming an artist, “My brother, Douglas Ricks, was in many ways my guide in the world of art. Doug had a great artistic sensitivity and a very extensive knowledge of art and artists.”

Douglas studied art at Ricks College in Rexburg (today known as Brigham Young University–Idaho), which, like the town, was also named for his great great grandfather, but he dropped out after a year and instead chose to serve his twoyear Mormon mission in New York City, where he took the opportunity to explore the museums and study the art exhibited there. “Once I’d visually absorbed the masterpieces, I had to know more about the painters who created them. While I was studying their lives and techniques, I began to experiment with changes in my own style.” Returning to Idaho after his mission, he put into practice what he had learned in New York, pursuing a career as an artist full-time.

Douglas Ricks described his paintings this way, "I don’t paint cowboys, and I don’t paint action scenes. I consider myself to be pretty much a landscape painter, although there are usually Indians in my work. In my paintings I depict a place where I'd like to be. Sometimes, I like to take myself away from the real and go off into a world that I've made for myself, through my paintings. I would like to be the Indians in the painting. It's sort of like a fantasy, but it's a fantasy I can make come true through my art."

WATCHER IN THE WOODS Tempera on Board 1981 31 x 41 inches