Welcome to Rita Bolla Artist Page. We are here to change the World one artwork at the time.
Hi. So good to have you. Now, please relax your shoulders, unclench your yaw, and take your time to look around. We hope you’ll like what you see, and ask you to not hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions, feedback or feel up for a chat.
We appreciate you!
Rita & Crew
Abstracts of 2022-23:
Cave/Escape
An intuitive abstracts series exploring sleepless nights and scary dreams. While Rita’s personal life is transitioning, so does her art. The Cave/Escape series represents some of her fears and struggles, but also her strenght, hopes and dreams to be able to reach the light of the end of the tunnel.
View the entire series here. Thank you.
Watercolors of 2022:
Faces of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary
Did you hear the news? Rita joined the team at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in spring 2022. As a longtime vegan and animal lover, Rita is now also serving the amazing nonhuman residents at the Sanctuary. Check out this beautiful portrait series, dedicated to the faces of WFS here.
First series in 2022:
Regrowth
The flip side of destruction is always creation. This series is a post-apocalyptic dreamscape, that finds hope rising from the rebel. As they say in my son’s favorite movie….”Life always finds the way.”
Yes, please.
Click here for more…
Pet Portraits
Looking for a animal portrait? Look no further! Rita is here to help.
Rita loves pet portraits. As someone with a long history working with animals, Rita finds painting beloved non-human family members especially close to her heart.
Prices depend on the materials, size, and the number of animals. Watercolors are generally the most affordable option, starting at $200-300 sliding scale for an 18×12-inch paper, with an additional $50 per animal or up-size. Oil paintings start at $350 for a 16×20-inch piece for one pet, with an additional $50 per animal.
We don’t turn down projects for the lack of funds, sliding scales, payment plans, barters always welcome, so don’t be shy to reach out and discuss,
Thanks for checking out these animal portrait examples!
Looking back on 2007-2010:
The Recycling Project
Created between 2007-2010 during my travels and as a student living abroad, while cleaning up cities and beaches… re-creating art pieces with found objects (aka trash). These pieces aren’t available anymore as most of them made their way into an actual recycling establishment, but this was a fun found and I thought I’ll share. lick here for more…
Customs Continue in 2022
Dear Friends. Our Holiday Special is now closed, but I’m extending working on a sliding scale as much as I can afford. So here it is! A 12x18inch watercolor portrait of one or two person or pet for only $200-300 usd on a sliding scale, with shipping included in North-America. The pre-pandemic price for this was $350 usd, but I know times are tough. This price includes, but not limited to single portraits, couple portraits, parent & child portraits, nursing portraits, baby wearing portraits, pet portraits, human & pet portraits, and the list goes on. Turnaround time is 2-3 weeks depending on the volume of work I got. High resolution pictures are the best for references, but we often also “mesh up” from 2-3 different photos, if needed (Rita has kids too, she knows the struggle…). Email for inquiries at ritabolla@gmail.com.
Cheers to end this year on a good note!
Last series of 2021
Desert Nights and Lucid Dreams
The series takes us back to the time Rita arrived to the US as a young immigrant Artis, living in NYC then moving to California, exploring city streets, mountains and deserts, backpacking with her dog, mapping an unfamiliar-to-her territory, and spending endless nights under the vast desert sky. Enjoy the paintings here.
The Struggle of 2021
So, have you noticed my art categories are sorted through years? Yep, so no 2021. I’ll be a little bit personal here, folx… Hi, I’m Rita and I’m struggling. It’s 2021, second year into the Covid pandemic and I am now a Stay at Home & Work at Home Mom with two busy children at the age of 4 and 1. On one hand this has forced me to finally take a huge leap towards being a Working Artist (as in no more side jobs) which I’m fully embracing and grateful for. But on the other hand, everything I do, I have little helping hands helping (?) me, as in distracting me, asking silly questions, demanding things, and overall creating chaos to me already chaotic mind. So this year has been hard and fruitless. Also fun, but mostly hard. But for fun’s sake (and because I have no other way getting around this) the few times I did feel like painting my own stuff, I involved said children. The result is that everything was full of paint and nothing looked like I was I originally imagined it, but hey, such as life. So I present you: the UnderStory. A series that will not be under my Original Works. Name borrowed from a friend, paintings created with my children. And yes, there is a story to each of them (for you to imagine…) Enjoy!
Book Release:
Nimita: The Firefly Girl
We are beyond grateful and proud to arrive at this part of Nimita’s journey: The book is out!
Nimita the Firefly Girl is a beautiful tale. I love how the author captured Nimita’s strong connection to the Earth, the homeland, and the animals in the story. The illustrations are so impactful and conveyed their essence beautifully. The author and illustrator created a symbiotic relationship between the text and illustrations that made this story a delight to read. This book has soul! I highly recommend!
2020 Series: Home
2020 was nothing but the year of slowing down, looking inward and reflect. While we were blessed with many commission orders this year and book illustration projects, Rita also re-discovered something old, something she haven’t done in a while, but something she had been craving…collage abstraction. The familiar smell of acrylic paint, glue, burlap, books, cotton and silk yarns… the warm and fuzzy feeling of creativity and intuition taking over.. all so familiar to her. We call this series Home, because abstraction is Rita’s home. Well, one of them.
Click here for the deets: HOME.
MemoryBox
This is a collection of Rita’s custom art pieces and personal paintings of her own family – freezing moments, memories, period of time so we can cherish and re-live it again. Details under MemoryBox
We Support Black Lives Matter
It’s been increasing hard to post anything. There’s literally nothing else comes to my mind then BLACK LIVES MATTER. Gosh, Black Lives Matter.
We’ve been somewhat active, marching, calling, signing and when we can donating, but not as much as I want to, and I’ve been feeling really guilty about it.
Sorta ditched my accounts, my website. How can I post about my art (or my happy little life) when we finally awakening to this HUGE issue in America?
For what it worth, I’m creating an army. An army of forest creatures and rainbow animals, but nevertheless an army.
If you buy one, I’m donating to our local organization, fighting for police accountability. So there, maybe that’s something. check my website, email me, let’s make a deal, let’s give back.
Persistence
The portraits behind "The Story of How I Found You."
15 portraits. 15 women. They’re not celebrities. Theirs are ordinary lives, lived with extraordinary strength. Some I’ve known my whole life. Some I just met. I cherish each of them because they continuously inspire me. Each has stood out, or stood up, for me at pivotal points in my life and my healing journey.
When the cascading traumas of sexual abuse, low self-esteem, bad life choices, bad relationships, fertility issues, and marital dilemmas have threatened to cripple me these women have shown me how to overcome. They have each, in their own way, given me unique tools to convert personal sufferings into direct action against social injustice everywhere. Regardless, the very existence of these wise women — veterans of life’s varied horrors — stands as proof of humanity’s great strength.
This past year, to honor womanhood, I painted these 15 portraits. I’m not here to tell their stories- that’s up to them. I’m here to revel in their glorious presence. And if you don’t find yourself here, please know I am still inspired by you. This list is completely incomplete, just as we are all imperfectly perfect. I love you and honor you, all.
Check out this whimsical series created by Rita and her 3 year old son, Joaquín. Acrylic abstract paintings on canvas, collaged with realistic watercolor portraits of domesticated and neighborhood-wild animals. This series created with these often under appreciated – and often abused – animals in mind, focusing on their personality and uniqueness. Chick here or check under Original Works.
Book Release:
The Story of How I Found You
Did you hear the news? Rita’s book The Story of How I Found You is out! A picture book for pre- & teens and all about inspiration, every day heroes, connection and just about being human. Stay tuned for book signing events, pandemic permitting.
This book is about people. The great ones. The ones who inspire. Who imprint themselves so deeply that the very idea of “you” and what you are capable of is radically transformed. These people need not be celebrities or world leaders. In fact, the people who truly make us come alive rarely ever are. More often than not, they seem on the surface like ordinary, everyday people. Sometimes we recognize their heroic grace at once. Sometimes only many years on. No matter how or when it happens, when the circumstance is ripe, these people will find you and lift you, even when you feel you have nothing to offer. They are out there. Never doubt this. And as you meet each of them, one-by-one, you will come to more fully recognize yourself in them and the value of the path you walk.
Little reader with The Story Of How I Found You.
Rita Bolla: Becoming Human. Works between 2014 to 2018.
“I call this phase Becoming Human. Starting with Transitions through The Vegan Project to The Book of Persistence. It is a collection of figurative oil-on-canvas artworks and watercolor paintings. They represent the fluidity of life — our transitions from birth to child and adulthood to death — and how we’re always becoming ourselves. They represent the cycle of our becoming animals, becoming conscious souls, and becoming humans.”
Original artworks available for purchase, as well as artist available for custom work. Please click to the contact form or email us for any inquiries.
Thank you!
Peace and Light,
Rita Bolla Art Team
Interested in meeting us?
Contact Rita for a Studio Visit!
While 2020 introduced some new challenges, and cancelled many plans, Rita is open for a mask-wearing & contactless showcase in her studio in Rosendale, NY, or via Zoom call. Email ritabolla@gmail.com to set up a time.
For more info, updates, pictures, and snippets from Rita’s life, please follow us on Instagram @ritabollaart.
