Richard Ott

Richard Ott was born in 1935 and worked at Creativity Explored from 1997 until he passed away in 2007. Ott enjoyed working with pencil, ink, pastel, and watercolors.

Ott’s natural inclination was to create circular abstract, overlapping lines that repeat and fill the surface with color and movement. Sometimes his paintings had hints of figurative subject matter, but mostly they were layered lines, often forming the numbers four and five, woven like an expressive tapestry. 

Ott enjoyed music and dancing and this was reflected in his artmaking process. Using rhythmic motions, he flicked his brush across the paper to create moody compositions. His instructor characterized Ott’s work as “carefree impulses from his gentle heart.”