Robert J. Simone

Robert J. Simone is an artist with the ability to see extraordinary beauty in ordinary places. His enthusiasm for nature and passion for painting are infectious. He has been described as a highly-skilled representational painter who possesses an innate sense of color and composition. Simone has a way of seeing, an artistic vision, which is uniquely his own. He responds to and paints the landscape in a way that makes it more accessible to the viewer. He believes the creation of fine art goes beyond the mere learning of a craft. He says, “The art of painting is passionate response to nature. It’s a way of seeing that orchestrates the broad array of visual stimuli into a harmonious whole.”

Robert supported himself through years of intense study with positions that kept him close to nature and near the sea. Now his distinctive blend of sensual colors, confident brush strokes and captivating light portray the emotions associated with the scenes he loves. He paints on location so that the landscape itself will inform the paintings he creates. Most days will find him with his easel at water’s edge pursing his passion. It’s this experience of the elements that makes his landscapes and seascapes in oil so highly collected.

Simone is a respected instructor who strives to inform, encourage and inspire. He is known for both his ability to demonstrate and to explain. He is a generous, organized and patient teacher. According to one appreciative student, “He knows what we need to know and is willing to tell us!” Robert says, “The impulse to paint is an emotional response to nature. But it requires some sort of framework through which we can express ourselves adequately.” Simone draws a correlation between music and painting, “In music, the scale provides the basic framework for expression. In painting, shapes, values, colors and edges provide the framework for expression. In that sense, painting becomes a translational process. It’s a visual language. At its most fundamental level painting is noticing and comparing. That’s what I teach, the fine art of noticing and comparing!”