About the Artist

RB McGrath

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

Commercial:     Cover design and Photography for Third Time's A Charm, Alan Storeygard Trio Jazz CD.
                         Released May 2nd, 2010. Cover: Portrait of Alan Storeygard. Back cover: photographic
                         portrait of the Alan Storeygard Trio. Booklet matter: Photographic portraits of
                         Dave Rogers-Drummer, Brian Wolverston-Bassist and Broadway Star
                         Lawrence Hamilton - vocalist.

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

Media:               Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Three Rivers Edition - Thursday, July 15, 2010
                                 Creating Music with a Brush -profile story by Jeanni Brosius

                          BLUEHARVEST Festival - Sunspot Studios/Ovation TV - Orlando, FL 2009
                          ABC affiliate KATV - Saturday Daybreak Show - Sept. 2009
                          ICON The Art of RB McGrath. Blurb Books - July, 2009
                          Anthology of Friends. Vol. 5 - 2009 - Micheal Riffel, Author
                          Anthology of Friends, Vol. 4 - 2009 - Micheal Riffel, Author
                          Leader News - April 2009
                          North Little Rock Time - April 2009
                          Cabot Star Herald - 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 to an American Air Force Father and a Canadian Mother, the family transfered to Little Rock Air Force Base/Jacksonville, Arkansas where they retired and have remained since 1964,

      McGrath is decended from a long line of Artists and Glassmakers who originated in the towns of Saint-Die 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 recent work includes a six by six foot abstract work for the new multi-million dollar Esther 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. Most recent work: A large scale painting of President William Jefferson Clinton, completed May of 2010, and a Portrait of Governor Mike Huckabee, completed in June of 2010.

      In addition to producing small, medium, and large scale works in oil, in a small studio in Jacksonville, McGrath is also an avid Violinist and plays violin with a string trio on weekend jam sessions.