'Artists can see and say what others sometimes cannot.'
Richard William Barnett works from his studio in California. He openly shares some very relatable details regarding his art and life in the following Q and A. He combines influences from art history and his life experiences to embrace honest observations of figures and current events.
Where is your current studio? What would be your dream studio?
I have a small room in my home that I use as a studio. It works out well in our current self isolation situation, but it can get lonely and insular at times. I think I would be happiest in someplace that had a number of artist studios, so that it would be more of a shared experience. Its easy to lose focus and motivation without feedback.
Do you prefer to work in silence or does certain music inspire you?
I rarely work in silence, unless I have a headache or am emotionally tense. I listen to books usually, though music is playing some of the time.
Studio life can lead to isolation, how do you address this/ keep a balance?
Simple answer is I don’t. Though medicated I suffer from clinical depression, and that can lead to some fairly self-destructive mental habits.
Describe a moment you had an epiphany concerning your creative life.
Just recently, after many years of beating my head against the wall, I realized that I am just not going to be able to earn a living with my painting. This has allowed me to stop looking at my work, and what I choose to paint in the future, without the consideration of whether someone else will like or want it. While on the surface that is distressing, it also provides a great deal of freedom.
What is your favourite/ least favourite part of the creative process?
The initial lay in of paint, after the cartoon is finished. It’s that point that I am not worried about how it is going to turn out and I can just paint and see what happens.
Do you have a personal mantra or quote which serves to motivate you?
Fail forward.
How has your style evolved and what contributed to the changes?
I was born incredibly nearsighted and didn’t realize how much that affected the way I see images as blocks of color until I saw the Remington shoe at the MET in the 1990’s. In that show i saw how his paintings changed as his eyesight failed with age. That gave me the insight to see the root cause of the way I paint and embrace it.
Describe an obstacle you have faced and how did you overcome it.
It’s the same obstacle I have faced my entire life, and will continue to face. Depression. Throughout my life, painting/drawing has been the only thing I could point to as proof of my own self worth. It was something I could do well, and something I could continue to work to improve over an entire lifetime. Nature versus nurture- do you believe you have inherited abilities from creative parents, do you have creative siblings? Can you identify environmental factors or influences which led to your choices or directions?
I already mention both the depression and my vision as environmental factors. My father used to tell me that he couldn’t understand the way my brain worked, and that no-one else in the family drew or painted, but he was an incredibly creative man. He expressed his creativity differently. He was a scientist and research engineer with 6 patents. Like I said… creative.
Is there something you regard as essential to your preparation or process?
Observation. I don’t really think of myself as a very creative or original person. What I try to do is find moments that catch my attention and catch them in a painting or drawing. Even though I am usually working from a photo or series of photos, i like to tell myself that the act of spending time with that image for days, weeks or months changes it. Detail a moment which was the highlight for you, thus far.
Finding out I was an ARC Salon finalist last year.
If you could time travel, what advice would you give the younger you, regarding pursuing your artmaking?
Stop screwing around with other stuff and just paint. How does your work respond to social trends?
I get spun up politically and it often makes it into my work.
What do you hope to convey through your work?
I don’t think am trying to convey anything. I am just painting what I see when it catches my eye. Follow Richard!