Artwork by Local Artist Richard Rainey on Display at Library [VIDEO]

Richard Rainey grew to appreciate the arts from a young age.

He was first introduced to the amazing world of art when he was “just a little kid” at Paterson Elementary School by a very interesting teacher named Ruth Corbett.

“She always smelled of paint and clay and would bring in prints of the great artists,” Rainey recalled. “She made [art] exciting [to us].”

A school field trip to the Met sealed the deal for Rainey, who says that “just being there really touched” him and from there he worked to bring out his inner artist.

“The kids [in my class] would ask me, ‘Richie, can you draw me a horse?’ he laughed. “From that point on I knew I had the talent, so [Ruth Corbett] worked to help me improve that talent.”

After graduating from Fair Lawn High School, Rainey went on to the School of Visual Arts and then joined the Army, where he eventually took the position of staff artist to the general.

“It was a very good job,” Rainey said. “I worked at the command building [creating] charts and certificates, as well as designing covers for the booklets that the officer’s wives clubs distributed.”

After leaving the Army Rainey worked briefly as a technical illustrator at Boeing in Seattle, WA, before coming back to New Jersey where he was employed as a graphic/news artist for The Record for over 30 years.

After he retired in 2001, Richard Rainey refused to let his interest in Fine Art take a rest.

“I’m always noticing beautiful trees wherever I go,” said Rainey, who is continually inspired by the large maple tree right in his own backyard. "I just get excited by it because it [always] turns a beautiful shade of gold."

Another bit of inspiration came in the form of a golden-colored fungus on a tree near his home, which sparks a funny story.

“Just as I’d taken [a few] pictures a fellow pulls up in his truck and says, ‘Are you going to take that?’” Rainey recalled.

“I said no, so he gets out and rips the fungus right off the tree! I got that picture right in the nick of time."

The finished drawing, which includes a pair of blue jays, is aptly titled “Blue and Gold.”

“Every year something tries to grow in that spot but it’s never as beautiful as [the fungus],” Rainey said.

Rainey also has many drawings that began as what he calls “automatic sketches,” in which he simply draws whatever comes to mind and then tweaks the drawing later on. One such sketch is a piece of driftwood he noticed at Puget Sound.

The intricate piece, titled “Puget Sound Driftwood,” looks like a seagull pulling a fish from the ocean. But if one looks carefully enough, smaller images of a fish, a whale, and even a bear are embedded deep within.

A wide selection of Richard Rainey’s drawings are currently displayed at the Pine Gallery through Oct. 29.

The supplemental video is a segment from Wayne Robbins' Inside Fair Lawn series.

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