Who is Dick Termes?

Dick Termes is an internationally acclaimed artist who's work has been recognized from San Francisco to Paris, France, from New York to Japan and his one of a kind spherical paintings have been published in books all over the world. Recently, Termes' piece titled "The Big Bang" was featured on the cover of France's publication of Une Belle Histoire du Temps which means A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking.

Unlike any other painter; Termes paints on spheres which, when completed, are known as Termespheres®. Each Termesphere® is a revolving three-dimensional space/time exploration of an entirely closed universe, meaning that what you see, rotating in front of you, is one complete world or environment.
Visit the Gallery to experience Termespheres® for yourself.

Visiting the Termesphere® Gallery

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What people are saying about the Termesphere® Gallery

4 star ratingInteresting art Small gallery reached by a gravel road outside of downtown Spearfish. The gallery is small and the artist is award winning for his “termespheres”. The globes hanging from the ceiling are interesting, most tell a story so you have to look at them closely. The pieces are expensive but fascinating. Look for the one in downtown Spearfish. Worth a visit.
pasherry Avatar
pasherry
8/22/2018
Just incredible! We have loved Dick Termes' work for decades. Especially love that there are so many affordable items available, making it possible for everyone to own a piece of art from Termesphere Gallery. We also picked up Lang's fabulous new CD and visited with Markie about her puppets. We are fans of this talented family!
Charla Stubblefield O'Dea Avatar
Charla Stubblefield O'Dea
12/10/2016
5 star ratingWow! Art at its most intriguing! The Termesphere Gallery is a visual feast. The gallery is small, tucked away among spruce and oak along the Maitland Road near Spearfish, South Dakota, but it's an experience not to be missed. Dick Termes creates spherical artworks, revolving three-dimensional art that often tells a story. You'll find yourself staring in awe at the many spheres hanging in the small gallery, puzzling over the images. Take your time! (Termespheres are offered for sale, but simply a visit to the Gallery is worth every minute.)
1215Ellen Avatar
1215Ellen
8/19/2018

So, What is a Termesphere®?

What you are seeing when you look at a Termesphere® painting is an optical illusion. An inside-out view of the total physical world around you on the outside surface of a hanging and rotating sphere. If you were on the inside of this sphere, this painted image around you would seem normal, but it is read from the outside. From any point when you look at the spherical paintings, the image reads correctly. Termespheres® capture the up, down and all around visual world from one revolving point in space. Most of the time these spheres are painted on the outside so it takes a six point perspective system to keep all of this environment around you organized.

Dick Termes has been painting spherical paintings since 1968 when he received his Masters Degree in Art from the University of Wyoming. He continued his pursuit with his thesis on the Termesphere® at the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles where he received his Masters in Fine Arts.

What is 6 Point Perspective?

The basic rules of traditionally defined perspective were formulated in the fifteenth century in Italy by Piero della Francesca, Leon Battista Alberti and others. In the fifteenth century view, if the horizon around you was imagined as 360 degrees, two point perspective drawings and paintings held 90 degrees of the visual world. In other words, their paintings could capture everything between the North point on the horizon to the East point. Termes has expanded this discovery of perspective in order to capture more and more of the visual world. With six point perspective, drawings and paintings reveal a total view encompassing the full 360 degrees in all directions.

Learn more about 1-6 point perspective here