Richard Ritter represents the artist-citizen — having built his studio by hand, raised a family, been the local volunteer fire chief, and worked as designer-gaffer-batch mixer-cutter-polisher all in one. Ritter’s daily routines — such as noticing how the tree bark pulled off by animals falls into strips on the ground — uncover patterns which become doodles that turn into works of art.

“I work in relative isolation, and very independently. I have never really worked in collaboration with anyone. At times, I may have one apprentice, but most of my time is spent working alone, or with my wife and fellow artist Jan Williams in our studio. I have had some