Paul Richmond Blog

Linda Regula is an artist, author, teacher, and community advocate. She’s also my hero. I started taking art lessons from her when I was three years old, and she has been a guiding light in my life ever since. Linda overcame tremendous challenges to lead the inspiring, creative life she does today. Extreme poverty, abandonment, and abuse marked her childhood in the Appalachian Mountains, and a near fatal injury in her thirties actually paved the way for her to discover her true passion. I was excited when she came to visit us in Monterey, California and agreed to share her paintings and life story in an artist talk called Reaching For The Light at Open Ground Studios on October 19, 2017. This is the video of her inspirational presentation. I hope you are as uplifted and motivated by the strength of this trailblazing lady as I am. I believe her story is one that everyone should hear.  

It is no secret that I am a huge Dolly Parton fan! Besides being super talented and adorable in every way, she has gifted us with so many pearls of wisdom over the years. Here are my top 10 favorite Dollyisms - quotes from the queen of Dollywood herself on life, love, and how to look like a hooker. --- Step into the weird and wonderful world of artist Paul Richmond, where anything could go down -- even a pin-up boys' pants! We're all a little high on paint fumes around here, so grab a brush and join the painting party!

Did you like? Subscribe: http://bit.ly/1lTU4Yv I was honored to be the commencement speaker at the 2016 ACPA (Arts & College Prep Academy) high school graduation ceremony on May 21, 2016 at Mershon Auditorium. Here's what I had to say! Learn more about ACPA: http://artcollegeprep.org/ Want more? Website: http://paulrichmondstudio.com Store: http://paulrichmondstore.com Shirts: h ttp://paulrichmondswag.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/paulrichmondstudio Twitter: http://twitter.com/paulrichmondart Instagram: https://instagram.com/paulyworld/ Tumblr: http://paulrichmondstudio.tumblr.com/

I recently received an e-mail from one of my favorite artists, Robert Sherer, inviting me to participate in an upcoming book project about male figurative art (more about that later). I was blown away that someone whose work I have admired for quite a while even knew who I was! I wanted to share some of his incredible art here and encourage you to see more on his WEBSITE and at LYMAN-EYER GALLERY .  I first discovered him when his Pyrograph series was featured in New American Paintings. The wood-burned images depict nostalgic boyhood memories rendered with actual camp craft materials, and they immediately grabbed my attention. Here’s an example, Pirate’s Booty: Treasure . I also love his Bloodworks series – elegant floral still life pieces created with HIV positive and negative blood to represent the complexities of romantic life and sexual attraction in the HIV era. This piece is titled The Usual Suspects .  

A few months ago, my friend Melissa Forman and I were asked to interview each other for an online arts magazine called The Artist Interview . In honor of her opening this weekend at Corey Helford Gallery, I'd like to share it with you. Melissa is one of my biggest artistic influences, not to mention an amazing person and one of my closest friends! We’ve been through a lot together (which you'll read about shortly), and I’ve watched in awe over the last few years as she has produced some of the most hauntingly beautiful, intricate, and compelling paintings I’ve ever seen. Go Melissa! I truly couldn’t be prouder of her. I hope you enjoy our little walk down memory lane: The Artist's Interview: Melissa Forman and Paul Richmond Melissa Forman and Paul Richmond displaying different levels of enthusiasm at a Dolly Parton cd signing in Manhattan At first glance, it might be difficult to find a connection between the work of artists Melissa Forman and Paul Richmond. The figur...

One of my great diva icons, Tammy Faye Messner, was the subject of a painting I made a few years ago. I'm now offering prints of the painting . July 20 was the two year anniversary of her passing, and I've been reflecting on her inspiration lately. I wanted to share an essay I wrote at the time along with some pics from the opening of my show Ins and Outs: A Reviva l, at which Paige Passion (dressed as Tammy Faye) unveiled my painting. A few months later, I was invited to present the painting at Tammy's actual memorial celebration in Palm Springs, alongside guests Larry King, Cloris Leachman, and Ron Jeremy. I think Tammy would have been proud! Remembering Tammy Faye by Paul Richmond September, 2007 As a boy who was raised Catholic and attended parochial school, I often found myself clashing with the ideals that were presented as Gospel, especially when they reached beyond the sanctuary into other subject areas, such as Social Studies and Health. And try as I ...

I received this photo today from the talented Australian artist John Douglas: We've been chatting by e-mail a bit lately because we both explore some similar themes in our work, but I had no idea he ordered a copy of my book . Since he makes a very cute book model, I had to post this to my blog. (I hope you don't mind, John!) I've been wanting to write about him anyway, so that provides a good lead-in... John Douglas' art encompasses a wide range of techniques including photography, painting, film, and mixed-media, so it's no surprise that he has such a diverse list of international exhibitions and publications to his credit. So far this year, he has already shown his work at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington, Arthouse Gallery in Atlanta, Laconia Gallery in Boston, Antena Gallery in Chicago, and the Tap Gallery in Sydney (to name a few). I particularly love a narrative series he's working on now that depict scenes from The Mahabharata (image to the le...

A few posts back, I wrote about attending the Forte fundraiser honoring our fabulous friend, Jim Arter, for his work as an artist and top-notch advocate for the GLBT community. He was kind enough to share his acceptance speech so that I could post it here. His words really resonated with me, and I hope to embody some of the same tireless enthusiasm and creative energy that earned him this distinction: “It is a great honor to accept the first Forte Award from the Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus on the campus of the Ohio State University. Ironically forty two years ago, tonight, I was at Ohio State but instead of celebrating I was confined to the lock-down psychiatric unit of Upham Hall at University Hospital learning to cope with being gay. At that time homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Growing up in Newark, Ohio I didn’t know other GLBT people. There was no Will & Grace or gay bars in 'Nerk' in 1967. I thought there was me and maybe Liberace, but he was probably just...

For my next exhibit, I’m planning to put a gay/glam spin on the fairy tale classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” My version, “Lily White and the Seven Divas,” will use symbols and imagery from the original story (along with some new additions) to tell the tale of a young, androgynous boy coming into his own -- by way of a colorfully inhabited enchanted forest of course! In my previous post, “Wardrobe Malfunction,” I posted some pics of my first attempt to find suitable costuming to help me transform into an appropriately glamorous heroine. Fortunately, with the help of my fashion consultant, Maria, we’ve made some progress since then. There’s much more to come, but I love the red corset (left), and I think the simple yellow shorts would be great with some tights and platform boots. Now, before you start filling out a submission form for “What Not to Wear” on my behalf, I guess I should probably explain my goal here -- I’m going for a combination of classic maiden (hence the laced...

This weekend, Dennis and I had the pleasure of attending a fabulous event honoring one of our dearest friends, Jim Arter. What could be better than a big, gay, 80's prom honoring a truly inspirational, community (and personal) hero? I'll tell you -- getting to sit at the same table as the guest of honor! The Columbus Gay Men's Chorus hosts an annual fundraising event called Forte, and this year they presented their inaugural Forte Award, which honors someone who represents the group's mission of combining artistic expression with social action. Well, they couldn't have chosen a better recipient than my friend Jim Arter. In addition to being an incredible artist himself (not to mention a foremost Judy Garland expert!), Jim works with the Greater Columbus Arts Council and pioneered an arts-based after school program for inner-city youth that became the pilot program for the award-winning Children of the Future. He also helped develop the "Art for Life" auc...

I recently had the pleasure of coordinating an exhibit for a super-fabulous local artist and wanted to share her work. She combines drawing, painting, quilting, and photography in really beautiful and unexpected ways. I completely get lost in the bright, whimsical zaniness of it all. But I think what I love most is that there often seems to be more to the story. Whether she’s exploring theories of crowd-mentality through complex repetition of her nostalgic “Sunbonnet Sue” character or merging layers of abstract patterning with illustrative figurative compositions, Melissa’s work is both high and lowbrow (whatever that really means), retro and modern, beautiful and conceptual...I could go on, but you get the idea. Check it out for yourself and add on all the adjectives you like: web.me.com/stitchintheditch/melissavogleywoods/Home.html . And if you're hung up on certain preconceived, outdated notions about quilting – watch out. Sunbonnet Sue has a gun!

I wanted to share the work of a San Francisco-based artist I recently discovered. His name is Jason Driskill and his art, which often incorporates self-portraiture, brings a fresh voice to the discussion of gender/sexuality. Jason’s going to be included in the “Stripped Uncensored” anthology coming out in June that I mentioned a few posts back, and he just told me that his piece “Hermes” (shown below) was accepted into a prestigious juried exhibition at the Kinsey Institute which opens in May. Congrats, Jason! Check out more of his work: www.jasondriskill.com .