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Laura Rizio

Laura Rizio

I am a Philadelphian by birth and by identity, but I moved to New Hope, Pennsylvania along with my husband and children because of its unique natural beauty as an exurban river town and artist community. I am an attorney by profession and founded a law practice along with my husband, James Hamilton, also an artist member. I am a self trained artist inspired by the New Hope School of Impressionism. Artists such as Edward Redfield, Fern Coppage, Robert Spencer, Walter Baum, and George Sotter became part of my thinking and my soul. I came to Nantucket in 1970’s along with my law school friends and was stunned by the wild, natural beauty and the freedom that the Island had for me. It called to me and said that I must somehow be part of it. So here I am now, a resident of two beautiful, inspirational places. The Nantucket School, to me, has the same wild spirt of light and composition as the New Hope School. Although Nantucket’s unique character is so different with its fog, bogs, ponds, dirt roads dunes and beaches, as opposed to New Hope’s mountains, rivers, forests, farms and farm houses, for me both represent a certain wildness, worthy of the challenge, that is to convey their naturalness and to communicate my vision to the viewer. That’s my mission.

Artist Statement

I want to capture the essence of a scene with light and color and to convey the spirit of what I see. With minimal structural elements and maximum natural elements that flow from and to one another, I hope to create a feeling of place and timelessness.