Rick Piper

By Toby Bennison

The name Rick Piper is synonymous with Cocoa Beach. Anyone who’s lived here has seen his artwork somewhere around town, even if they’ve no idea who he is. They’ve seen his paintings adorning the walls of local businesses and homes. They can describe a favorite piece they saw at an art show ages ago in perfect detail. They’ve surely noticed the murals he created for the interiors of Cocoa Beach Fitness and Pineapple Pointe. Fairly soon they’ll be talking about his new expansive mural enveloping the inside of Coconuts On The Beach.

Coconut’s “immersive mural,” as Piper calls it, is just that. Run-of-the-mill murals merely replace one previously bland, flat surface with another more colorful, yet equally flat coating. Some employ tricky trompe l’oeil techniques to produce the illusion of depth. Piper heeds these traditions but takes it further, incorporating the outdoor terrain, geographical orientation, indoor architecture, lighting, and sound effects into his work. The result is truly “immersive.” Walk through the front door of Coconuts, and you’ll get the very amazing picture. A waterfall gurgles beside you as you grab the bamboo door through the foyer, and sunlight fingers through a dense canopy of overhead palms. You’re in a jungle. You’re at the beach. You’re in a bar. You’ve stepped inside to go outside. You’re immersed. You need a drink.

It’s just like Piper to skew your perceptions. He’s not toying with you, though. He’s taking you where you may not usually go and showing you a different view of what you see everyday. Even his smallest canvases take you there. He creates barrier beach-themed pieces and images of estuaries in which the shorelines curve improbably into a bent horizon and curl back under mangrove roots. Water is cleaved like gelatin by a fisherman’s path as he wades out to cast his line. Fish swim through the water and glide over the sand. To anyone who’s had that idyllic day outdoors, it all makes sense. Though much of his work is grounded in reality and informed by the area’s surroundings, Piper also paints more conceptual pieces like “Fish Walk” and “The Search” - inner, visual narratives in which a scenario is suggested, whispered, or boldly revealed.

Along with friends Hassan and Marina Patterson (great artists in their own right), Piper’s opened Big Art Studios at 150 B, N. Atlantic Ave. (A1A), between 1st and 2nd Streets North in Cocoa Beach. By the end of June, Big Art Studios will be open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. He and the Patterson’s also plan on hosting 5-day outdoor exhibits at the end of each month beginning in July. You may catch him working in the studio late into the evening - drop in for an enlightening chat and check out some of his paintings. Until then, visit www.rickpipersart.com to see full scope of his talent. He’s available for murals, environment and prop design, signs, and paintings on wood cut to shape - everything he creates is unique. He can be reached for artwork sales, requests, and mural projects at (321) 783-6943 or via email at: Rick@rickpipersart.com