Dennis James Russas, born 1953 in Needham Massachusetts is a lifetime resident of
Watertown, Massachusetts. At an early age Dennis had a great passion for drawing and painting.He had a fascination with what happened when pencil or paint met paper Self taught, Dennis began his work using Watercolors and Acrylic. With the desire to explore various artistic avenues , he expanded his practice to include decorative
woodcarving, which provided him with a better understanding of three - dimensional
forms. During the early stages of his journey, Dennis concentrated primarily on Wildlife
Art.It was in 1990 that he won his first"Best of Show in Wildlife Art" from the Watertown
Art Association. Even though he had limited time to focus on his art, Dennis continued
to paint whenever and where ever possible.
Among Dennis' greatest achievements was his 1991selection to participate in a Master
Class for artist by world-renowned wildlife and nature artist, Robert Bateman. He was
one of only eighty-six artist selected from the United States and Canada who were
invited to attend.
Over the years Dennis has continued to study, practice, and participate in local and
regional art shows. He was able to develop his own style of painting and has remained
true to his eyes own interpretation of the subject, never conforming to another artists particular style of painting.Dennis won the support of well-known artist Joseph Santoro,
who was instrumental in Dennis' acceptance into The Copley Society of Art. In 1997
Dennis decided to expand his styles to include oil paintings of still-life's, portraits, and
landscapes of a more classical style. This has allowed him to "train his eye to see better and become a better visual artist".
Dennis has received training in classes and workshops held by Robert Douglas Hunter
and Joseph McGurl. In 2003 feeling confident with his level of skill, Dennis left his job to
focus full time on developing his career as an artist. Since then he has been developing
a new series of paintings, Plein-air on Copper.
