We are excited to announce the latest addition to the Leopold Gallery + Art Consulting, abstract artist Conn Ryder. 

Ryder’s abstract expressionist work features an array of colors, painterly strokes, and drips, reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s work. Her inspiration is drawn from a variety of subject matters including music, landscape as well as her personal experiences.

Conn Ryder was drawn to art from an early age. Conn’s formal art education includes fashion illustration at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and painting at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Once during college, Conn’s instructor led a group of art students into the painting studio to show them a large vibrant abstract Conn was working on. The instructor pulled the painting out of the storage slot, only to discover the previously colorful canvas had been covered with thick, black paint. Conn later explained that out of frustration, she painted the entire surface black, and in doing so, freed herself from the creative fetters of the previous image. The next afternoon, she feverishly scraped back into the black surface, reworking as she went and uncovered a more complex and texturally varied abstract that suited her sensibilities. The instructor said she knew then that Conn was a true artist.

Conn later turned to representational painting, attending painting workshops with Daniel E. Greene and Joan Potter. She sold her representational still lifes and received portrait commissions. Through the course of her artistic evolution, she has zigzagged through fashion illustration, representational art, and by age 50, Conn found her way back to the abstract painting that resonated in her core.

For more information you can head to our website at www.leopoldgallery.com or contact us at 816.333.3111 / info@leopoldgallery.com

Don’t forget to #LiveInspired.

Hilary J. Cole