A Little Background

After WWII and his duty in the Army Air Corps, Ray Davenport studied at Pratt Institute, The Art School, Brooklyn, New York and graduated in 1948. He began his art career, not as a painter but in advertising. He started in the silk screen printing business and also as a free lance commercial artist in NYC. In 1950 he moved to South Carolina and his life’s work was about to take a new direction. He became more interested in fine art, joined, as a charter member, the Sumter Artists’ Guild and painted in the evenings. In 1975 he left the advertising world and began painting full time. In the past 30 years he has gained a fine reputation nationally as a professional artist.

Ray loves to experiment. As a painter he occasionally departs from his strict realism and works in patterns of color, texture and shapes, not to make a statement but to create a sense of beauty and design with paint or other material. In addition to painting, the media with which he works is diverse as well . . . he is a printmaker and cast paper sculptor.

He’s listed in Who’s Who in American Art and, by invitation, is a member of the National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic and the Allied Artists of America, both headquartered in New York City. Ray’s a Charter member of the Sumter Artists’ Guild and also a Charter member and Member with Excellence in the South Carolina Watercolor Society. He regularly exhibits nationally and regionally and as of 2006 has received over 135 major awards with his art.

Ray lives with his wife in South Carolina and paints pretty much every day. He is currently associated with City Art Gallery, Columbia, SC, The Spencer Galleries, Charleston, SC and the South Carolina Artisan’s Center, Walterboro, SC.

“Creating art is a passion with me”, he remarked,”and I don’t plan to retire. I’m having too much fun.”

You are now invited to enjoy Ray’s Art