Cottonwood Art Festival Selects Richard Lorenz as Featured Artist for May 2-3

RICHARDSON, Texas, February 12, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​​Cottonwood Art Festival has selected Richard Lorenz as the featured artist for the 51^st semi-annual show in Richardson, Texas. Jurors chose from more than 240 artists, competing in 14 categories, and Lorenz’s artistic appeal of birds seem to soar this season. The Spring 2020 festival artwork spreads its wings with a lively image of a wide-eyed, white-feathered creature that Lorenz named “Floyd the Fabulous.”

“I was inspired to create Floyd the Fabulous while visiting the Circus Museum in Sarasota, Florida,” explained Lorenz. “The experience left me wanting to create a circus theme with one of my birds. It’s a high honor to be the featured artist for Cottonwood Art Festival as it is one of the top shows in the nation.” 

Over the past couple of decades, Lorenz has collected many accolades, including the winning entry of the Louisiana Duck Stamp Contest, and consistent recognition at top art shows around the country. Lorenz and his wife Tina Louise Willis-Lorenz met in 1999, married in 2003 and now have a family of five children and six grandchildren. Together, they created Silent Echoes Studio to collaborate and exhibit year-round in the galleries and fine art venues from coast to coast.

“T’Louise was a staff writer for a local paper that asked me for an interview. I declined but she insisted,” he said. “We were friends for three years before we actually went out on our first date. The rest was history.”

There is only one bird quite like Lorenz and his “Be The Bird” series is a whimsical bird’s-eye view of virtually painted images. Digital paintings translate the physical properties of traditional painting into a virtual representation.

“I’ve painted in oils and acrylics for over 30 years but have grown sensitive to the chemicals in the paints. Since painting is all I know, I had to find a different way to paint,” explains Lorenz. “Digital painting was the answer and a steep learning curve for this self-taught artist. I’m still learning and enjoying the creative process.”

Cottonwood Art Festival is May 2-3, 2020, at Cottonwood Park located at 1321 W. Belt Line Road in Richardson, Texas. Admission is free and the festival is open Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 3, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The festival additionally includes two stages of live music, a craft beer garden, food trucks, painting demonstrations, children’s art stations and more than 200 artist booths with artwork from around the world.

About Cottonwood Art Festival

Now in its 51^st year, the semi-annual Cottonwood Art Festival is a juried show ranked among the Top 10 Fine Art Shows in the country. Local artists staged the first Festival at the scenic Cottonwood Park in Richardson, Texas, in its humble beginnings in 1969. Cottonwood has since established itself as an internationally award-winning signature art event and become a tradition within the community. The Festival designed outreach programs as innovative tools to mentor students, designed to broaden the interest in visual arts beyond the art festival, and bring the art world into classrooms. www.cottonwoodartfestival.com ​

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Source: Cottonwood Art Festival