The minute pastel painter Ron Geary spotted the quaint Northville garage on an online video, he envisioned that space as his future studio. “It’s the primary reason why I bought the house,” says Geary, who moved to the village three years ago with husband, Dave, and their two dogs, attracted by Northville’s growing artistic community and the region’s countless opportunities for hiking, biking, and kayaking. 

“In my work, I tend to focus on nature and animals,” Geary muses, “things that I don’t think receive enough attention or respect in our human-centric world. Sometimes I’ll just take my bike and find a trail and start taking pictures with my SONY digital camera. Half the time, I don’t actually use any of the pictures in my painting, but you never know. Sometimes I’ll stumble upon a shot several years later and suddenly realize, ‘Oh, wow – this is great!’”

Although currently focused on pastels, the versatile artist also works in oils and acrylics. Impressionistic nature scenes, mundane moments in life, and portraits of beloved animals, dogs in particular, are among his favorite subjects. “In my paintings, I try to evoke some sort of moment that I’ve experienced. I try to evoke a sense—something seen, smelled, or heard—so that when you look at a piece, it can remind you, too, of a moment that you’ve had in your life.

“One time, when Dave and I were sitting around a campfire, he started taking pictures of roasting marshmallows. I thought he was crazy! Eventually, though, I painted one of those roasting marshmallows, and every time I see it, it evokes that feeling of something I love: sitting around the campfire, smelling the burning wood, and hearing those crackling sounds.”

Art has always figured prominently in Ron Geary’s life. His passion for drawing, painting, and design began in childhood, growing up in Western Pennsylvania, and continued at the Savannah College of Art and Design where he studied Art History. But after earning his BA in Art and Architectural History, Geary found it difficult to find relevant employment. An avid gardener, he worked as a floral designer for several years, fusing his passions for gardening and creativity.

“But, eventually, I grew tired of being a florist and never having a holiday to myself. After going back to school and earning my MPA (Master of Public Administration), focusing on public policy and nonprofit management, I spent 15 years working in development and data management for several national nonprofit organizations.”

Geary enjoyed the data management field, but his long-term goal had always been to establish financial security and, then, return to his true passion; art. In 2023, he began exhibiting his work again; and in June of 2024, he left his nonprofit position to become a fulltime artist.

Although painting is Geary’s first love, he enjoys the challenge of learning how to do different art forms and, then, fluctuating between several different mediums. “When I needed a break from the chemicals, fumes, extensive cleanup, and uncertain drying time of oil paints, I turned to woodworking and began making Shaker boxes. I’m the type of person who gets very tired of working in one medium, so working with a completely different material enables me to take my mind off painting for a brief period. Sometimes just taking a break and dabbling with a different medium recharges me and gives me the fresh perspective I need to return to painting.”

Eight months ago, pivoting again, Geary shifted his focus to pastels. “I used to hate pastels,” he candidly admits. “They were dusty, messy, and I didn’t like the texture. It was chalk on a chalkboard to me. But now that I have this new work space where I can get messy, I’ve found that pastels are a great medium to work with. The pigments that you get are just incredibly vibrant, and it’s easy clean-up.”

Geary typically uses a combination of soft and hard pastels on a sanded paper that enables soft pastel particles to adhere better to the surface. “Initially, I use hard pastel to sketch things out and block out areas. Then, I’ll fill in with soft pastel and, later, for detail, I’ll come back in with hard. Soft pastel allows for layering and depth. If I’m after a blue sky, I’ll put down the complementary color first—an orange—and rub it very gently into the grit. Essentially, that is my underpainting. Afterwards, I’ll layer the blue over top of it.

“With pastels,” he adds, “there is no mixing of colors. That was the most difficult thing for me when I first started using them because I was still thinking in terms of mixing colors, as I would with oils or acrylics, and I was trying to do that with pastels—and it just doesn’t work! I could always create the exact color I wanted with oils. But with pastels, you never get the exact color, so you have to interpret. You have to compromise. Working with pastels is much more impressionistic.”

Whispering and shouting are two terms commonly used in pastel painting. “When you’re running pastel across the paper lightly, so you’re seeing the paper underneath, that’s called whispering. And when a pastel artist uses very bold strokes and grinds the pastel into the paper so that it takes up all the grit, that’s called shouting. I have a preference for shouting.”

In his first three months as a fulltime artist, this dynamic and personable artist created more than 30 new pastel pieces. “Right now, my intent is to keep the momentum going and build up a body of work. Then, I’d like to start doing more exhibitions, entering juried shows, and getting my work out there.”

Given Ron Geary’s passion for painting, infectious enthusiasm, evocative subjects, and vibrant use of color, we can’t wait to see what comes next!

To see more of Ron’s work, visit
www.gearyfineartstudio.com or contact him at gearyfineartstudio@gmail.com.