27 Jul Stuart Loughridge creates intimate etchings and paintings

Take time to enjoy Stuart Loughridge’s intimate studies

Some art work can be appreciated at a distance. Work by painter and printmaker Stuart T. Loughridge invites a closer look. Ripple River Gallery features an exhibit of Loughridge’s paintings and etchings by Loughridge beginning July 17. The show will continue through August 11.

Building on his skill as a draftsman, Loughridge creates intimate landscapes, portraits and figurative work using oil, water-based paints and copper-plate etchings. A consummate craftsman, Loughridge carefully creates his artwork from the substrate to the finish, often hand-crafting unique frames carefully matched to the piece.

Based in Saint Paul, Stuart Loughridge is a second-generation artist and has been making a living from his art since the age of twenty-two. Born in Denver, CO, in 1978, his earliest memories are of looking over the shoulder of his father, also a painter and print-maker, as he laid in washes to bring a landscape to life.

“Like many children, I just drew and drew. The big thing is I never stopped,” Loughridge says. He acknowledges the importance of being surrounded by art as a child and commends his high school art teachers for keeping him on track and encouraging him to pursue his training at the Atelier in Minneapolis.

Loughridge’s process begins with small studies—often watercolors—made outdoors. Those small field sketches or paintings foster new ideas, which he develops into oil or watercolor paintings, pencil drawings or etchings. “Anything can happen,” he says. “I’m not trying to copy what I see. I’m going for something that is more of a feeling or impression.” Loughridge says the process keeps him thinking and looking at nature through the lens of different mediums.

“Moon Over Superior” – copper plate etching, Stuart Loughridge