About the Artist

RB McGrath

American-Newfoundlander

Born:                Branch, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland. Residence: Jacksonville, Arkansas

Painting style: Eclectic.   Contemporary Realism, Impressionism, Abstract
                                         Still life, Landscape, Figurative, Portraiture

Awards:            2009 - FAA Howard Shull Portrait Competition - First Place
                         2007 - Winner - Empty Bowls Cover Art Competition. L.R., AR
                         2006 - Quadruple Award Winner - ASF Creative Arts Competition, AR
                                       Best in Show - Trail Rider
                                       First Place -     Landscape
                                       First Place -     Still Life
                                       First Place -     Trompe L'oeil

Shows:              Wealth Management, Inc. Presents - The Art of RB McGrath
                          2010 Winter Art Exhibit and Wine Event. Solo show. March 5, 2010

Media:               ABC affiliate KATV - Saturday Daybreak Show - Sept. 2009
                          ICON The Art of RB McGrath. Blurb Books - July, 2009
                          Anthology of Friends. Vol. 5 - 2009
                          Anthology of Friends, Vol. 4 - 2009
                          Leader News - April 2009
                          North Little Rock Time - April 2009
                          Cabot Star Heral - April 2009
                          Maumelle Monitor - April, 2009
                          ARTnews Int'l- Vol. 107 No. 11, December 2008
                          Leader News Publications, AR 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006
                          NBC affiliate KARK, L.R., AR 2006
                          CBS affiliate KTHV, L.R., AR 2007

Selected Private Collections:
     Dr. Alan and Paula Storeygard, Jacksonville, AR
     Salvatore Moltisanti - IBLA Foundation - New York
     Lt. Bill and Lorraine Shelley, Jacksonville, AR
     Collection of Saundra Buchannan Gethz - The Dalles, Oregon
     Mary M. Verser - Jacksonville, AR
     Theresa Everett Lewenowski - Washington, D.C.
     Charles and Sherry Vanlandingham - N.L.R., AR
     Tommi Myers Lewenowski Fell -N.L.R., AR
     Lou and Gloria Lewonowski - Jacksonville, AR
     Robert E. and Mary Carlson - Montgomery, AL
     Anita Bonham Cross - N.L.R., AR
     The Barbara Rhine Collection - Wilmington, Deleware
     Mr. and Mrs. Donald Schmidt - Jacksonville, AR
     Collection of Mrs. Mary Ford - Austin, AR
     Sandy German - Owosso, Michigan
     Robert Murphy and Dave Penny Collection - St. John's, NFLD
     Virgil and Wendy Parnell - Keo, AR
     Mr. Cole A. Bredenberg - Jacksonville, AR
     Darrin and Kathleen King - England, AR
     Dame Ashley Collins - Sherwood, AR
     Don and Janet Bredenberg - Jacksonville, AR
     Mr. Jason Chrisman - Jacksonville, AR
     Collection of Mary McKinney, Cabot, AR
     Tom and Mary Henry - Little Rock, AR
     Collection of Mr. Ronald and Peggy Pulliam, Fort Worth, TX
     Collection of Mr. James R. Brady, Sherwood, AR
     Mr. and Mrs. Jason Garcia - Jacksonville, AR
     Kim Lett and Donna Weatherford - Jacksonville, AR
     Bill and Pat Buchanan - Cabot,

Selected Corporate and Public Collections:
     Central Arkansas Library System Public Collection
     Performance Food Group - Little Rock, AR
     Arkansas Food Bank Network - L.R., AR
     Jacksonville Police Dept. - Jacksonville, AR

Brief bio:

     Born in a small fishing village named Branch, in Easter Cove, St. Mary's Bay, Newfoundland, McGrath is decended from a long line of Artists and Glassmakers who originated in the towns of Saint Claire and Colmar in the Vosges mountains of France on the Bonham side, (the original spelling of the surname is Bonhomme), and Irish immigrants to Newfoundland on the McGrath side who settled into St. Mary's Bay as Fishermen. Newfoundland in modern times is noted for it's rich artistic and cultural history which has produced a number of visual artists, musicians, singers, and dancers .

     Drawing and painting from early childhood McGrath began a serious pursuit as a painter in the mid 1980's. The first large scale work was an eight by ten foot mural (Mother Earth) for Northeastern University in Boston while serving as Artistic Director for Daka Food Services at the University. A more recent large scale work is on display at the Jacksonville Police Department in Arkansas, for whom McGrath also designed the CID Division insignia.   McGrath's most recent work includes a six by six foot abstract work for the new multi-million dollar Esthter Nixon Library in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and a large portrait modeled for Salvatore Moltisanti, President and Founder of the IBLA International Musicians Competition in Ragusa, Sicily and recently unveiled at the IBLA Headquarters in New York City. Latest work includes a Portrait of Dr. Alan Storeygard - Composer and Pianist and IBLA International winner from 2002. Current project: Cover art and content design for new Alan Storeygard Trio CD due for release in March of 2010.

     A resident of Arkansas since 1965 McGrath produces small, medium, and large scale works in oil, in a studio in Jacksonville.