RICH SAMUEL: watercolorist + football player / trust your work ethic

01/19/22 • 47 min

What can an artist learn inside a football huddle? A lot, if you are former professional football player turned watercolorist RICH SAMUEL.

A relentless work ethic, persistence and teamwork are just a few of the qualities football instilled in Rich —or “Sweet Feet” as he was known in the day—that have allowed him to create a booming art practice and studio that has grown into an East Austin community hot spot. With effusive positive energy, Rich juggles his own painting and clothing line with hosting community events featuring local jazz performers, comedians and painting classes.
Rich shares how the weight and responsibility of being the only Black-owned gallery in Austin gives him a sense of purpose that energizes his own art practice. Rich also reveals how he uses TikTok to fuel his art sales.

Find Rich:
Website: www.richesart.comInstagram: @richesartFacebook: www.facebook.com/richesart TikTok: @richesart

Mentioned:

Lian Quan Zhen, Rich’s teacher & watercolor artist (see)
Football highlight videos, Hudl (watch)
Music, Comedy & Classes at Richesart Gallery (explore)

Also fun:

Youtube Interview with Eli Samuel (no relation) (watch)

Find Me, Kristy Darnell Battani:
Website: https://www.kristybattani.com
Instagram: kristybattaniart
Facebook: kristybattaniart
Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please take a moment to leave a rating and a comment: https://lovethepodcast.com/artishplunge
Music:"Surf Guitar Madness," Alexis Messier,
Licensed by PremiumBeat.com

Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/artishplunge)

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What can an artist learn inside a football huddle? A lot, if you are former professional football player turned watercolorist RICH SAMUEL.

Find Rich:
Website: www.richesart.comInstagram: @richesartFacebook: www.facebook.com/richesart TikTok: @richesart

Mentioned:

Lian Quan Zhen, Rich’s teacher & watercolor artist (see)
Football highlight videos, Hudl (watch)
Music, Comedy & Classes at Richesart Gallery (explore)

Also fun:

Youtube Interview with Eli Samuel (no relation) (watch)

Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/artishplunge)

Support the show

Previous Episode

ARTish Words: Wayne Thiebaud + seeing pie, slowly

As a visual artist with an affinity for words, I know there are a lot of talented artists out there who are also great writers. So to honor the written word and to prove that blogs are not archaic, I am going to alternate introducing you to artists through interviews with introducing you to artists through their words by sharing blogs, articles and other writings with you. With the artist’s permission, of course. Welcome to ARTish Words

In this first ARTish Words episode, I want to celebrate the life of one of my absolute favorite artists who passed away on Christmas Day —Wayne Thiebaud. Like a piece of chocolate cream pie, Thiebaud’s work makes me feel grounded and content, aware of contrasting flavors and textures, simple but decadent, a bit of nostalgia mixed with a hint of optimism.

In this episode, I share a blog post from Maryland painter Jennifer Kahn Barlow, who learned from Thiebaud that “food images can be art and phthalo blue can have a prominent place on an artist's palette without overwhelming it.”

We will also hear the words of Laguna Beach artist Hedy Buzan who shares insight on Thiebaud’s work as being “simultaneously accessible and deep, rooted in art history and slyly funny, idiosyncratic yet universal.” Hedy also shares her observations about Thiebaud’s last exhibit, “Clowns.”

And finally, we get a brief introduction to the Slow Art Day movement and this year’s events on April 2, 2022.

I am always on the hunt for good writing. If you have a favorite artist blog, please share it with me: [email protected]

Mentioned:

“Wayne Thiebaud, Playful Painter of the Everyday, Dies at 101,” by Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 12/26/2021 (read)
Interview, “Wayne Thiebaud, Draftsman,” Morgan Library & Museum, 2018 (watch)
“A Fellow Painter’s View of Giorgio Morandi,” by Wayne Thiebaud, New York Times, 11/15/1981 (read)
Slow Art Day (learn)
2022 Slow Art Day Venues (discover)
“Slow Down, You Look Too Fast,” by Trent Morse, ARTnews, 04/01/2011 (read)
“Slow Art? It Will 'Blow Your Mind,’” by Anna Bailey, BBC News, 04/05/2019 (read)

Find Hedy Buzan:
Website: https://hedybuzan.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hedybuzan

Find Jennifer Kahn Barlow:
Website: https://www.jkb-art.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jkb.art/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenniferkahnbarlowart/

Find Me, Kristy Darnell Battani:
Website: https://www.kristybattani.com
Instagram: @kristybattaniart

Support the show

Next Episode

ARTish Words: public domain day 2022 + welcome home, winnie

What do Winnie the Pooh, Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes and Greta Garbo have in common? They all have creative work (but not all of their work) that entered into the public domain this year, thereby enabling all of us to enjoy, use and build upon those works.
In this episode of ARTish Words, we hear from Jennifer Jenkins, Director of the Duke Center for the Study of Public Domain, helping us understand the purpose and benefit of the entry of works into the public domain, as well as celebrating this year’s extraordinary class of public domain entrants including works from William Faulkner, Willa Cather, Fanny Brice, Al Jolson, Rudolph Valentino, Buster Keaton, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, among many others.
As a proponent of educating artists on our rights as creators and users of artistic works, this episode of the ARTish Plunge encourages artists to understand our rights so we can exercise control over how our work is seen, heard and shared. Host Kristy Darnell Battani also shares tips on how to locate public domain sound recordings, books, movies, compositions and visual works.
Find Duke Center for the Study of Public Domain:
Website: https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/

Mentioned:

Public Domain Day 2022, Duke Center for the Study of Public Domain, (see the list)
Internet Archive (see what's available)
HathiTrust Digital Library (explore)
Library of Congress National Jukebox (listen)
Creative Commons-No Copyright Reserved aka CC0 (learn)
The Walters Art Museum, CC0 license to use visual arts images (explore)
The Getty Open Content Program (learn)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access Policy (explore)

Other Resources:

Library of Historical Audio Recordings at i78s, well-organized and easily downloadable music in the public domain (explore)
WBUR Here and Now Interview with Jennifer Jenkins, 01/04/2022 (listen)
’Til The End of Eternity, by Jennifer Jenkins, Huffington Post , 03/10/2012 (read)
What is Public Domain Art, by ARTDEX, a Free Digital Archive And Social Destination For The Global Art Community (article focuses on visual arts) (read)