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Born February 16, 1956 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Robert Vandergriff (Bob) Bickers, Jr. was raised in Memphis where he developed an interest in art at an early age. Bob won student art awards for his drawings in junior high school and turned his interest to photography where he took and developed his own pictures, but much of his artwork was set aside after graduating from high school in 1974.

Working his way through college, Bob formed his own professional photography business. He took wedding photos, engineering photos, documented evidence for attorneys, photographed property for mortgage companies, drafted surveys, designed logos, and worked as an insurance adjuster for six years while attending law school at night.

It was while Bob was working as an attorney in 1984 that he became inspired by the enthusiasm of television artist Bill Alexander to return to art and take up oil painting. He took several continuing adult education courses at Memphis State University on art, air brushing and portrait oil painting, and found himself to be a fast study. With practice and fine attention to the techniques of other painters he admired, Bob started to exhibit his works at local galleries and won numerous awards for his pen and ink, gouache, acrylic, alkyd and oil paintings at local and regional art contests in the Memphis area, including the Coalition for Visual Arts and for many years at the Memphis and Shelby County Mid-South Fair.    

Working in acrylic, alkyd and oil, Bob developed a life-long interest in landscapes and portraits. Other paintings reflected his varied interests including ancient American Indian artifacts and pottery as still lifes, aircraft, astronomy and paintings of manned and unmanned spacecraft from the American and Russian space programs. While a Claims Attorney for Nationwide Insurance, Bob met the company president who commissioned Bob to create an oil painting of an eagle's nest. A limited series of prints were made from that painting and a number of them were framed and issued to Nationwide's top adjusters that year as an award. Bob also created several logos for several regions and departments in the company.

In 1992 Bob relocated to Murrysville, Pennsylvania. He began competing and winning recognition in local art shows. His work has been seen at many public forums including the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley, the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Gallery Space at the Monroeville Public Library, Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville, the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, the Donohoe Center and the Murrysville Municipal Building. His artwork has appeared on the cover of In Murrysville Magazine and he has been the subject of many local and regional newspapers and periodicals.  Bob is an active member of the East Suburban Artists League and often exhibits his paintings and photographs in their shows.  Bob is also a member of the Pittsburgh Society of Artists (PSA).

The works of Howard Terpning, Richard Schmid, Clyde Aspevig, Cyrus Afsary and Wilson Hurley (another attorney turned professional artist) are among Bob’s major influences. Most of his work is now created in oil or alkyd on canvas or by digital photography and includes rural and urban scenes of Western Pennsylvania as well as images from his varied travels across other regions of America. Today Bob works with his wife and law partner, Diane Landis Bickers, in the Murrysville law firm of Bickers & Bickers and he continues to paint from his home studio in Murrysville, exhibiting in local and regional art shows. Bob is also available for commissions.

(Left) Bob Bickers at the North & South Rims of the Grand Canyon, Arizona; Chaco Canyon, N.M.; Hoover Dam, Nevada; Red Rock Canyon, Nevada; Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada; and at a painting demo in Greensburg, PA. Click on images to enlarge. Photos courtesy of Brad & Diane Bickers.