If retirement means a person is supposed to slow down, Richard Nash evidently didn’t get the word.

Nash, who retired from the Oak Harbor School District in 2002 after three decades of teaching art, is busy making a name for himself in the Northwest art scene.

“As an art teacher, art is a passion. When I reached my 30 years, I was really interested in pursuing my own direction in art,” he said.

Today, Nash is an abstract artist who creates complex works with a Northwest palette of warm ambers, browns and greens. His work can be found in Coupeville, Anacortes and Bellingham galleries.

“I’ve studied and painted abstract art with an unending interest ever since college,” he said.

Former students and colleagues from Oak Harbor Junior High, North Whidbey Middle School and Oak Harbor High School can reconnect with Nash this Saturday, as he celebrates his largest gallery showing to date. About 40 of his abstract pieces will be displayed at the Matzke Fine Gallery and Sculpture Park on Camano Island. The exhibit is called “Abstract Painting as a Form of Visual Poetry.”

The opening will run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the gallery is located at 2345 Blanche Way. The show ends March 28.