Russell Bentley

A self-taught artist, Russell began his art career in the small town of Redan Georgia, located about twenty-five miles east of Atlanta. It was here that he gathered many ideas now incorporated into his paintings. As a young boy, Russell enjoyed sketching many different subjects including old barns, houses, churches, animals and landscapes. In those years, most of his work was in pencil or charcoal. Wanting to add color to his subjects, in 1974 he began to use pastels as his medium and began focusing more on his favorite subject, wildlife. In the early part of 1976, he was invited to Frame House Gallery in Louisville Kentucky where he met and studied the techniques of artists such as, Charles Frace, Ray Harm and Jim Harrison. Over the past twenty years, Russell has found acrylics to be his favorite medium because of the detail it allows and the texture it produces. Now residing in Stockbridge Georgia with his wife Diane, he hopes to continue his painting and printmaking for others to collect and enjoy.