Esther Ritz, born New York City, has been working as an abstract painter and contemporary artist in Dallas and Santa Fe for the last fifteen years. She is a lifelong painter who began experimenting with color at an early age. Esther vividly remembers her parents taking her, as a child, to Greenwich Village in New York City. They went to an art supply store to purchase a real artist's box, with oil paints and brushes. The acquisition of authentic art supplies solidified a vote of confidence in her artistic talent. Esther has studied at intensive workshops with French and American master painters. In 2010 her work was juried and selected to be in the national magazine, Studio Visit. Esther was recently awarded Best in Show by the Texas Visual Artists Association in 2013. Esther allows her energy to flow freely onto the canvas in the form of paint. She is inspired by the rhythm of upbeat music, from musicians such as Buddy Holly, Al Green, Elton John, and Aretha Franklin. Her paintings are guided by a compelling sense of color and a strong instinct for pattern and texture. Her uninhibited exploration of collage is mesmerizing. Esther harnesses her imagination without restraint. The power of her unconscious results in a creative process that is quite astonishing. "I like to let the freedom, play, emotion, and energy of the moment take over and guide each work of art. This demands I pay attention, stay in the moment, and enter into a new relationship. Each painting becomes an absorbing mystery, with its unique possibilities, expectations, frustrations, and surprises."

Selected Exhibitions: "Collage, Printmaking, and Assemblage", TVAA Group show, Dallas, Texas, 2013, Best in Show. "In the Eye of the Beholder", TVAA Group Show, Dallas, 2013, Honorable Mention. Solo Show, Haley-Henman Gallery, Dallas, 2010. Solo Show, Read Johnson Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2005. "Beaux Arts Show", Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, 1998.

Contact Esther at: estherbobdallas@yahoo.com