Bruce Rice was born and raised in New Jersey.  After service as an army officer, he returned home and began to reengage with art. Since earning his MFA from NJCU, where he received a formal grounding in art history and studio technique, Bruce has striven to develop an Abstract Expressionist style that reflects the energy of life. If pressed to cite the painter he most admires, Bruce would name Arshile Gorky.  Gorky is the link between 20th century action painting and everything that came before.  Gorky also possesses a sensuous paint quality. Duende provides a strong conceptual underpinning, Bruce believes, for his work.  Duende, as an impetus, infuses a passion that the Muses, and angels, cannot.