Thursday morning I revisited the wonderful gallery of Roland Richardson, in Marigot. My last visit was three years ago with my late wife . Such a wonderful experience as I paired it with a walk through of downtown Marigot. This time I not only visited with Roland, but also met his lovely wife Laurie and his very helpful assistant! The beauty of the brightly colored works of art is a delightful experience and certainly worth the effort to visit !
I highly recommend a visit , knowing that many of you have enjoyed his gallery in the past. I could not resist purchasing a beautiful print for my girl friend who is a watercolor student .

So glad you enjoyed it. Hope we see you soon!

Great to hear from you !
Don

My wife and I also enjoy our visits with Roland. We missed him last May when we visited. We have a few of his prints hanging in our home in Lancaster, PA. Always draws comments when people see it. Love his gallery and the great garden behind it with the old military barracks at the rear of the yard.

It is truly a beautiful place and I'm so happy the restoration has continued. The gardens have a wonderful golden chalice tree which was started from another tree and is over 100 years old....

Roland and LAURA are truly gracious souls.

I am having the beautiful print framed, to give to my girlfriend for Christmas.
The framer recommended “museum glass” , which is nearly invisible, with the matting and white frame . It should be finished by Christmas.
I held the print, packaged in cardboard, in front of me on the jetliner,
which was an issue for one of my stewardesses on the flight back to
Philly/ Cincy. However, the nice fellow by the window agreed to hold it during takeoff, so the stewardess was ok with this. I was in the middle seat.
I declared the purchase in Philly and had to go through a complete search of my baggage and carryon in Philly, but the agent was nice, but asked a lot of questions !
All ok !

You won't regret using the museum glass. It is more than twice the cost of regular glass, but you will swear there is no glass on the print. I have worked part-time for a former student of mine who has a frame shop and we put museum glass on over half the jobs. People love it. Just make sure they tell you how to clean it when you buy it. The company we get the glass from has a sticker we place on each job I frame that tells you the correct method for cleaning. If they don't do so, just let me know and I will email you the procedure. For the cost you don't want to ruin it the first time you clean it.

Thank you so much !
Don

Can someone who's visited the gallery share more info about the types of prints that are available and cost range. Wish I could afford an original piece, but that would blow the budget to travel to SXM! I've looked online for Richardson prints and they don't appear to be available there, so hope to purchase something during our trip in 2020.

The print I purchased, without frame, cost $375.00. There are smaller prints at a lesser price. There are many numbered prints to choose from. If you purchase it framed, the cost is higher of course. They are really beautiful ...I purchased my first several years ago. The gallery is open Thursday’s only in Marigot, not far from Fort St Louis. A total delight !

Don

Does original art have to be declared?

Generally, anything you are bringing back to the US that you didn't have when you left, must be declared.

We have a signed and numbered print which cost about $250. The painting is on canvas and is of Guavaberry trees which are one of his favorite berries to paint. It is titled Blue Agave. I framed it myself when I returned home. Hangs above my mother's antique desk at the top of our stairs. She would have loved it! When we purchased it he signed it once more so I could take a photo of him signing it. Make sure you make a stop at his studio. You will love his work as well as him. Check out a few stories from my blog about Roland.
https://lifewithldub.blogspot.com/search?q=Roland+richardson

Enjoyed your photos of st.Martin and Roland Richardson and his studio.
Biglar, by coincidence, “Blue Agave “is the print I purchased this trip !

Don

It is one of our favorites. Looks like we both have good taste in art!

Thanks for the info about the prints. When I heard the term “print” I was thinking of something on paper, but these appear to be much nicer than that if they are on canvas. Hopefully, I'll be able to visit the studio when we're on the island in January,

How do we get to the gallery?

Click the gallery link for the address
http://www.rolandrichardson.com/

It is at 6 Rue de Republique, Marigot, which is the street on the south side
Of Fort St. Louis. Only open thursdays around 10 30 am for several hours.

Absolutely, hands down.....one of the most rewarding and educational experiences we have encountered in 23 years of visiting SXM. Roland and Laura are exceptional individuals that we had the pleasure of spending time with today. Beautiful gallery in Marigot. Incredible artwork. Awesome teacher. We have our ‘flamboyant tree with pods hanging from the branches’ print ready to take home to display iin cold Erie, PA. Dave said he has a brand new outlook on seeing color, nature and the meaning of the beauty of life..thru Roland’s vision and passion for color. Thank you Roland and Laura for your incredible insight. And thanks to Cincinnati kid for your post. Very special day for us. Right from the heart.

Pre-Irma (in our case April 2015) Sir Roland would, once a year, do children's portraits in charcoal for a very reasonable $100. I brought my daughter there and the resulting portrait, which I watched as Sir Roland personally drew and talked to me and my daughter, is very proudly hanging in a beautiful frame in our family room (and I consider it priceless!). We will always have this portrait to treasure and the memory of our time spent with Sir Roland and Laura will not be forgotten. Unfortunately, post Irma I don't know if the Richardson's are still having this once a year event. Worth inquiring if you are interested!

Thank you Susie and Dave for your very lovely visit! We enjoyed having you with us on Thursday and were in awe of Susie's jewelry creations which she exhibits at El Zafira. Roland and I stopped there today, unfortunately just after you left for the airport. It was wonderful to see everything you brought and were delighted to meet Ro, too. We purchased some of your Sea Glass Christmas tree ornaments for our grandchildren's small Christmas trees they set up in their rooms each year, and will be back for more of your hand-made seaglass and flamboyant seed bracelets before Christmas! We plan to have breakfast there by the beach as well! Thank you for encouraging us to visit such a beautiful oasis here. Wishing you safe and happy travels home! We're happy to save some flamboyant pods for your work! XOXO Laura

Thank you so much for your very kind post here! We hope you are very happy with Roland's Rainbow Bougainvillea giclee on canvas and especially hope that it made a special gift for your girlfriend. Next time, we hope you will come together and she can work on some watercolors while she is on island! Wishing you much Joy & Peace this holiday season. XOXO Laura

Glad to see you here Laura!

~Leona

Hi to Cincinnati Kid! I am slightly after the fact, but was your girlfriend thrilled with her masterpiece at Christmas? We just discovered, after all these years of visiting St. Maarten/Martin, that Roland has Wed. presentations at Belmond La Samana. We are HOPING that he is still doing this as we will be going the next time we visit. Hopefully in March. Roland and Laura are the nicest and most interesting couple we have had the pleasure of meeting during our travels. Laura is a poetry artist I just figured out from checking out their website. For some reason, the website doesn't work on our Ipads (shockwave?) but I used my laptop and the links are AMAZING!! I already have my eyes on our next print!!! My husband knew exactly which one is going to be my next purchase!! We purchased Baie Longue Colors I in December. Magnificent.

She was delighted ! I had it beautifully framed and she has displayed it in her home.
The colors are so beautiful !
So cheerful !
I hope to bring her to st. Maarten in the near future !
She would love to see the gallery !
We became engaged eight days ago !
Don

Congratulations on your engagement Don!

Don--congratulations on the engagement!!

Wow! That's very cool!

Congratulations.

Congratulations on your engagement, Don. Very happy for you!

Congrats

Thank you ! You are so kind !
Don

Yay! Congratulations on the engagement Don. You know that you MUST share SXM with her.

What are you plans?