Richie Carter was born and raised just outside of Kalispell, Montana. Brought up in a rural Northwestern Montana community, he developed an early sense of adventure, creativity, and an affection for the landscape, as one does when the woods are one’s only playground. As a child, if he didn't have a pencil or crayon in hand, Carter was building or making the latest idea he could conjure up, from tree houses to paper-mâché sculptures.

As Carter moved through school, it soon became apparent that he had a knack for drawing and painting. His high-school art classes served as an inspiring foundation to his fascination with realism and working from direct observation. Just like many artists in the field, Carter quickly became infatuated with Old Master works, and while obtaining his B.F.A. in painting from The University of Montana, he spent a year abroad in Northern France studying the language, culture, and rich tradition of painting. Upon graduating in 2012, Carter established his base once again in Kalispell, where he maintains a working studio today.

“When I’m not in my studio working on large-scale still life and landscape paintings, you can find me out on location gathering reference materials, from the backcountry of Montana, to the deserts of the Southwest, or on the cobbled streets of various European cities,” the artist says. “I love to travel and meet people of different cultures, taking inspiration from a myriad of sources. Painting is a universal visual language that breaks down barriers, and I hope my work can serve to cultivate authentic human connection. My goal is to make impactful, striking, yet simplistic images that evoke emotion and allow a dialogue to take place between the rich tradition of realism and the contemporary reality of our time.”

Carter is represented by FoR Fine Art (Whitefish, MT), Settlers West Galleries (Tucson, AZ), Old Main Gallery & Framing (Bozeman, MT), and Montana Gallery (Billings, MT).