Speak to me of Joy

Ursula Richards is a self taught artist who has only recently been able to seriously focus on pursuing her creative urges. She has always found outlets and expression for them throughout her life - she took advantage of every  opportunity to make things beautiful and esthetically pleasing even though a conventional career in the field never materialized for her.

After moving to Ithaca a few years ago and finally having the time to devote to developing her natural talents she has concentrated on photography as well as painting. The always changing beauty of nature all around her provides endless inspiration and delight which she has attempted to give expression to.

Throughout most of her life she was fascinated by and explored the beauty of the human body using soft media like chalks and pastels which recently has been superseded by a developing interest in depicting nature. Her longstanding passion for graphics and her great appreciation of different alphabet styles and their psychological impact as they are used as means of communication and as design elements have also been areas of creative exploration at different stages of her life. Interior design and clothing, jewelry and accessory design have also provided outlets for her creativity.

She is a member of Green Valley Artists, a group of photographers, digital artists and painters which formed in 2008 in Ithaca NY. Since their successful debut show in October of that year they have had quite a few well received group shows at different local venues and a number of solo exhibits by individual members including herself.

Ursula has a very inquisitive mind and she has always focused on meaning and purpose in everything. She loves to write and tell a good yarn, she is interested in science, philosophy, spirituality, ancient history and natural healing among many other fields and is not averse to speculate beyond commonly accepted parameters. The precarious condition of our home world and the well-being of all of its inhabitants has been of great concern to her and she has devoted much energy to understanding these issues and challenges.

Despite all of the threats to our survival we face presently, she is positive that we will find solutions in time and she realizes that the answers to our questions are within all of us and so is the courage and determination to do what needs doing! As the title of this site proclaims, approaching anything with a joyful heart and never forgetting that paradise is indeed a state of mind goes a long way toward ensuring that every day will be a day to remember and that we will be in the best possible condition to overcome any adversity!