Artist Rayhart at the Center for the Arts

MANASSAS, Va. — The Center for the Arts, Caton Merchant Family Gallery will exhibit the works of regional artist Rayhart, February 6 through March 16. A closing meet-the-artist reception will be held from 1 to 3 p.m.

Ray Hart, the artist who became “Rayhart”, says painting for him is “nothing short of the abandonment of reality.” He began painting professionally in 1997, nurturing his calling as an artist and poet, with college basketball scholarship days and a sociology degree becoming history in his now wizened journey.

From his beginnings with simple line doodling and ink drawings for his poems, Rayhart now exercises color and abandonment to the fullest.

“Most of my paintings start out with a simple line that becomes a journey,” he said. “I’m overwhelmed until I’m finished,” … and that’s what’s good.”

The loose, free-style results don’t tell a story of having been overwhelmed; the paintings claim exuberance and joy in having come to be from an idea or single seed set in Rayhart’s consciousness.

To abandon working photographs or setting up a life study is the uniqueness of this artist to his practice. The uniqueness becomes palpable when experiencing his sinuous lines and swirls of intense colors; this style has gained Rayhart the compliment: “I feel your art before I see it.” There’s no mistaking the artist knows how to invoke feeling and mood — and he works the color — he gets color right with complementary, contrasting and eye-popping palettes.

The work, mostly created in acrylic or oils, Ray describes as “original, abstract and somewhat surreal.” It shows that he also paints to music, the love he has for music transcends the canvas. It’s an exceptional pleasure to accept this artist’s gifts — in subject matter ranging from the figurative: women and men in solitude; music; and abstract landscapes — and as he says, “my aim is to share as I have been given.”

Rayhart’s work is displayed every Father’s Day at the popular Wine and Jazz fest in Manassas. He shows at Artscape Artists’ Market in Baltimore; the Cleveland Fine Arts Expo; the Philadelphia International Art Expo, the New Harlem Renaissance Art Show in Indianapolis. He is represented in local and regional art galleries as well as Papp Gallery in New York; and Gallery 13 in Denver.

The Rayhart exhibit is free and open to the community to view. The Center for the Arts, Caton Merchant Family Gallery is located at 9419 Battle Street, Manassas, with hours 10 a.m. to 5 pm weekdays and 1 to 5 pm on Saturdays. To find out more about the exhibit, contact the Center for the Arts at 703 330-ARTS or visit the website at center-for-the-arts.org.

-Submitted